Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Never did, never
Hello again! I think this has been the longest period of time between updating one chapter from another. I've been waiting for my review to at least cross the 150 mark. Besides, I've been busy with my studies. Thanks to all those readers who have been sending me regular reviews! I guess I really look up to quantity and quality. I'll try to update at least once every one or two weeks. I'm on to you people! Enjoy!
Uzumaki Naruto closed the zipper that would hold his cloak together, and pulled up its hood over his head for the finishing touch. In truth, he never liked the idea of wearing them either when he's performing missions or just crossing the scorching desert to reach Sunagakure. Gaara once told him that the heat of wearing such heavy clothing under the hot sun wasn't anything compared to having the heat fall directly on the skin. Asami, Kisame, and Kabuto did the same thing as they pulled the hood over as all four of them made the last few preparations. Each one of them also wore the average standard communicator consisting a wire of small receiver and earphone. Seeing as how the plan was going to be carried out over a large radius in different places. Naruto decided give a try on the communicator, seeing if there was anything wrong.
He did have experience using them, to catch a lost pet cat.
"Testing…testing…foxes at mating." muttered Kisame without being bothered of holding the small wire of microphone closer to his lips.
Both Asami and Naruto didn't do anything in reaction, it was just one of those times where Kisame would try to push their buttons and lighten up the tension before a mission. Thought, that didn't mean they weren't a little bit tweaked about it. Seeing as the ex-Swordsman of the Mist would never pestering Naruto and Asami, including the fact that they were already married for a year. In truth the nuisance coming from Kisame just got worse after they had got together.
"What? I was just testing." justified Kisame, as he gave a few taps on his earphone. "You all got that loud and clear right?"
"Yes, Kisame, we all heard that loud and clear." answered Naruto in a bored manner.
Kabuto was the first to put his ANBU mask on, and then took a good look at his own reflection on the mirror not too far away. Making sure that none of his strands of hair were visible. Asami and Naruto put on their own ANBU masks too, though they just stood in their place and looked at their reflection from the mirror across the room. It was a wonder how Naruto, Asami, Kabuto, and Kisame could hide their unruly wild hair from being seen from under the hood and mask, especially Naruto's case.
"Between all four of us, we have to be careful not to blow our covers too early." mentioned Asami, at the same time noticing of the three male shinobi's current status.
"What?" defended Kisame since the kunoichi gave the longest look on him.
"I think some of us should be a little bit more careful since we're going to be close to those Leaf-nins for a while. I don't have to worry about having any of them recognizing me even without my ANBU mask on." pointed out Asami.
"Ooooo, I think I should be careful too. Who knows what will happen if they manage to find out that I'm Hoshigaki Kisame." said Kisame in sarcasm.
"Well we all know Kisame's cover is already blown." replied Kabuto.
Naruto gave a glare to the Samehada wielder, "That doesn't mean you can go around scaring people half to death."
"Not now at least." finished Asami, crossing her arms. "Do that after we're done with Orochimaru."
"Are you sure our Kazekage is okay with that?" asked Kabuto, thinking about the few residents of Konoha cowering in terror from a laughing Kisame. That ex-Akatsuki member was going to drink sake to his heart's content after the Jounin tournament, just as he said he would. Especially when someone's paying.
Which was never a good thing.
"You and I should be more careful, Naruto-kun." suggested Kabuto. Naruto knew what he meant. "The few people that know about the two of us will all be standing guard by their Hokage's side. I'm sure both of her assistants, Shizune and Sakura, along with Kakashi will be present."
"Mostly around Tsunade-obachan and. Shizune-nee-chan." replied Naruto proficiently, "Kakashi would be suspicious, but all for the wrong reasons. Sakura hardly knows about you outside that Chuunin exam event we had together, but it doesn't mean that she won't be just as cautious."
"A Sannin's apprentice," noted Asami. She shouldn't have overestimated her when she recollected as much information as she knows about Sakura. "Then again, we all know that some Waterfall-nin had beaten her in the Jounin preliminaries."
Kisame already had the activities of the day planned out.
1. Join in torturing the snake before Naruto gives the final blow.
2. Enjoy watching the shocked faces of the audience.
3. Scare some pedestrians on his way to a decent bar.
4. Drink all the sake he wants till he can't drink anymore.
5. Scare more people on the way back to the inn.
"What are you going to do after that snake's dead?" wondered Kisame.
Naruto frowned in thought. "Settle several unfinished businesses and clear things up"
Would they recognize him at all if it weren't for the whisker marks?
His hair was like a yellow form mess, spiking out like a porcupine, until it would come down near the edges, his forehead, and ears. Jiraiya did say Naruto reminded him of the Fourth, but the Jinchuuriki didn't like the idea of letting his hair grow too long in front and around his ears. Something about how it itches and how it would disturb his hearing senses. His uncanny resemblance with the Fourth was getting more and more obvious as time flies by. The first impression for anyone who had lived long enough to get to see the Fourth would totally agree with the Toad Sannin.
He was a split image of the Fourth.
Not that Naruto cared.
"Let's go." called Naruto, his mask on, pulling the door wide open. From his voice, the three could tell that Uzumaki Naruto has just switched into his cold silent demeanor.
"Ehehehehe…I can't wait." chuckled Kisame as he followed and tried to imagine the various possible shocked faces.
Soon enough, all the Sand-nins were gathered down at the lobby and were ready to leave. Takagi, Chiro, and Hirami seemed belittled in the presence of the surrounding elder Sand-nins. With Gaara in the Kazekage blue and white robes, the small blue colored 'Wind' kanji written on his Kazekage hat, though he had long decided to not wear the veil. His elder sister and brother, Temari and Kankurou, were wearing in an all black colored shinobi outfit. Kankurou had three large scrolls over his back while Temari had her trusty battle fan strapped behind at her sash. The two village elders, Lady Chiyo and Old man Ebizou, were wearing their usual formal clothes but also black in color. Ten ANBU members in total, including Naruto's team, in total present. Naruto's team clearly stood out from the small group of Sand-nins since he, Asami, Kabuto, and Kisame were the only ones that wearing cloaks that covered from head to knee. Naruto stood out from the rest of the ANBU since he was the only one wearing a blood red colored mask, with the very detailed face of cross between a demon and a canine.
Chiro wondered, how these silent ANBU members were like enjoying themselves yesterday at the ramen stand yesterday. True, they are practically just like any other shinobi, who perform missions, return home, some to their families, and then to live another day. A thin line separated the ANBU from the other Jounins, Chuunins, and Gennins. They were trained and specialized to kill. Missions meant in absolute or imminent kill, no matter what. In fact, that was ANBU was all about.
It did stand for Ansatsu Senjutsu Toukushu Butai (Assassination Tactics Special Squad). The acronym ANBU coming from the first two letters from the first and last words.
ANBU members take away lives in order to save lives, which could be said as opposites of medic-nins. They were to kill someone who could possibly pose a threat to anyone else: being their own Kazekage or the citizens of Wind Country. Targets being wanted shinobis from all five elemental. It was people would say, for the greater good.
Gaara and the rest of the senior Sand-nins could already detect the presence of a small number of ANBU Leaf-nins around the inn. Despite the fact that Kisame was wearing his ANBU mask that had small holes for his nostrils, he could easily detect the faint smell of chakra radiated by the ANBU Leaf-nins. Naruto, Asami, Kisame and Kabuto were playing the 'Where's the ANBU?' game all over again.
The Kazekage and his band of Sand-nins knew they were being watched. They all simply walked to the stadium, totally attracting the attention of by standers on the streets just like yesterday. Either it was from the Kazekage's appearance, the number of ANBU walking in the public, or possibly Naruto's mask. They wanted to avoid as much attention as possible, already going out from the inn early in the morning. However, the streets were already full of people, shinobis from all over Fire and Wind Country. The daimyos (landlords), ministers, and the important influential leaders from the two elemental countries were probably entering through the village gates. Various shinobis within Konoha's alliance such as Rain-nins, Waterfall-nins, and Grass-nins could already be seen.
Baki and his three Chuunins were walking in the lead, as they seemed most likely to know wherever this stadium was. From the meeting Naruto had his three comrades: Naruto knew that the place was situated at the edge of the Konoha. There were already people walking along side early that morning to get better seats and such. The blonde ANBU captain had never knew about this place, may be it was quickly built and completed while he was away or just never knew about the place. Naruto set his eyes on the designated area for the first time, though he had already gone through its very blue prints and city plans. The stadium was huge, much more than the one he'd seen in his first Chuunin exam. Definitely bigger than the one in Tsuchigakure ( Hidden Village of the Rock) where he had taken his Jounin exam after he had joined Suna.
"Impressive." Kankurou whistled, as sign of astonishment and mild surprise. "Though they should spend more time training themselves than building such things."
His younger brother was silent, looking at the majestic that was the Jounin stadium.
"He's right, they should either do some training or focus on more important things. For one thing, their security here sucks." huffed Kisame.
"I've got to say, these Leaf-nins really know when to show off." added Asami, leaning close to Temari.
Temari turned her head to the kunoichi and whispered in return, "You haven't seen their hot springs and public baths yet."
This was the second time that Kisame and Kabuto had been here, since they had just recently surveyed the whole place yesterday while Naruto and Asami had gone to visit the memorial stone near the training area of Team 7. Naruto looked at the Godaime (The Fifth) Kazekage, or small brother since he was older than the Shukaku vessel. Gaara nodded to his ANBU members, which in return disappeared in a whirl of sand. They were taking their positions around the stadium. Temari smiled at her smaller brother before leaving the group and disappeared in the crowd.
"I guess I better move on then." shrugged Kankurou. The puppet master patted his brother, Gaara, on his right shoulder. "Enjoy the prime seat, Kazekage-sama."
Gaara could hear the tinge of mockery and playfulness in the word Kazekage-sama, much like when Naruto, Asami, or Kisame would call him. Those three would just call him by his name when they weren't in public. Soon enough, Baki and his group of young Chuunins were going to separate from the group. Takagi was to be expected at the waiting room while his teammates and Jounin instructor would be sitting down with the rest of the spectators.
"Nervous, you little runt?" asked Kisame. The sword master looked down at the really short Chuunin in front of him.
Takagi didn't like what he was hearing, but he couldn't deny it. "A little."
Kisame decided to scare the young Chuunin a bit. "I mean, there's nothing to be really scared about. You're only fighting some crazy shinobis as your opponent. Someone who's twice as old as you."
Takagi didn't seem fazed by what Kisame had said at all, since he'd probably faced far older and better ninjas when the gray skinned shinobi thought about it.
"Who had beaten the apprentice of a Sannin." added Kisame.
That had done it, Takagi looked slightly worried.
Kisame bowed a little lower and continued, "May be you'll get the chance to fight Uchiha Sasuke. I mean between that old Waterfall-nin, an Uchiha, and a Grass-nin kunoichi who made your teammate here scream like a girl just by a glance."
Takagi's teammate, Chiro, didn't want to be constantly reminded about that. Hirami giggled as she saw her teammate bit his lower lip in refraining him, from saying something he might regret, at Kisame.
"I think that's enough coming from you." interrupted Asami. She gave Takagi a pat on the back. "Come on, cheer up. Who knows? May be we'll have only two Chuunins returning back home."
The mentioned Chuunin didn't wince in pain or rub his back, unlike the times when Asami would hit Naruto, Kabuto, and Kisame. He felt his spirits lift up a little by the support.
"Gee…thanks." Takagi perked up a little from the support.
"There's nothing to be scared about." said Kabuto. The ex-Sound-nin bent closer and whispered in Takagi's ear. "Who knows, may be we'll come and join in the fight."
"Join?" repeated Takagi.
Kabuto's right hand rummaged through his weapon pouch, after finally finding his desired object, he placed it on Takagi's palm. "Here, take this. It might come in handy."
Hirami peeked as to what the ANBU had given her teammate, as she couldn't contain her curiousity. "What is it?"
Takagi took a good look at it, whatever it was. It turned out to be nothing more but a pill.
"A pill?"
"It's a blood pill." specified Kabuto, seeing the confused looks on Takagi and Hirami's face. "A special one since I made that pill myself. This one works much faster and more effective than other blood pills. Closes minor wounds, something that other blood pills can't do, and it enhances the body's blood cell reproduction. Don't worry, blood pills are legal in Jounin exams, it's just that very few shinobis even come up with idea of carrying blood pills around."
"What he meant to say is, just eat that damn thing when you're seriously wounded." summarized Kisame.
Lady Chiyo gave a suggestion, "You might want to put than somewhere instead of your weapons pouch. You don't want to lose it when you draw something else out during the process."
Takagi placed it in one of his Chuunin vest's pockets. "Thanks."
Kisame just shook his head in pity, 'I wonder how long the constipation will last….'
Asami turned to the ANBU captain expecting him to say something to Takagi. Naruto was struggling with himself in the inside. He turned around, carefully observing the crowd of people walking around not too far away. He slouched down a little towards Baki's student.
"…Good luck." said Naruto, loud enough for only Takagi and the nearby Sand-nins to hear coming behind the ANBU mask.
Asami giggled in response whereas Kabuto and Kisame smirked a little in watching Naruto's antic. Lady Chiyo and Ebizou shared their joy, since their blonde shinobi was slowly recovering just as Jiraiya and the few people of Sunagakure who knew Naruto, had hoped for.
Kisame whispered through the communicator, "Now that wasn't so hard, was it? It's just talking, not that you should mind about people hearing you."
Naruto scowled, somehow managing to say something while gritting his teeth through his own communicator. "Don't push your luck, fish face."
"What are you going to do? Fight me in front of all these people right now?" provoked Kisame jokingly, who now just talk out loud for everyone to hear. "Huh? Huh! Huh!"
Naruto glared at Kisame through his ANBU mask, and unleashed the gruesome killing intent that usually freezes everyone in their place. Seeing as Gaara and the two council members were around, the ANBU captain decided to just tone down his killing intent a bit. It was just high enough for people to feel the chilling aura in the air. Wondering what in the world was scaring them down to their bones. Those who could see the small group of Sand-nins would know it was somehow coming from the ANBU member wearing the grim red demon mask.
It was more than enough for a warning.
Kisame backed away, holding his hands up in a sign of surrender. He could just barely say, "Okay…okay…I get the point."
Asami, who still hadn't forgot the annoying wake up call, decided to join in. She gave a hard elbow in Kisame's ribs, "Good."
"Okay, that was too hard even for a playful hit." winced Kisame, holding onto his ribs as he went on his knees. This time, not acting all too melodramatic. "I bet that would've at least crack Gaara's sand armor."
The Shukaku vessel was stoic, but then wanted to know how Baki, Takagi, Chiro, and Hirami were doing in response to Naruto's own killing intent earlier. Gaara wondered if what Kisame had just said was true. Would Asami's hit have easily broken through his sand armor? The three Chuunins were slowly recovering, as Baki and Gaara's eyes met.
"Nothing to worry about. Kazekage-sama." assured Baki. He gestured the three Sand-nins to move on into the entrance. "Now let's move along, you three."
Hirami waved goodbye at Takagi and the Sand-nins, as was being pulled away by Chiro. "Good luck!"
"You're going to need it." joshed Chiro.
The red haired kunoichi, Asami, waved back at Hirami not caring as Kisame held on to his ribs. "Next time think twice before you decide on a way to wake someone up. Banging really loud over and over along with shrewd comments isn't a good idea."
Kabuto wasn't surprised upon Asami's action, but then held out his right arm to Kisame's ribs. His hand glowed in green chakra that was probably just easing the pain and probably heals any minor injuries or slight bruise. "In your case, Kisame, it'd be best if you think thrice."
Having a medic-nin such as Kabuto has its disadvantages, in Kisame's opinion. His presence in the team just gives more reason to Asami in having the desire to punch and hit before thinking the dire consequences later. Her attacks were clearly more frequent when Kabuto had joined them. The elders, Chiyo and Ebizou, watched and had decided to intervene the new generation of Sand-nins' little escapades.
"Now. Now. That's enough from all four of you.," said the old kunoichi, Chiyo.
"Gomen (Sorry) Chiyo-ba-sama." bowed Asami slightly in deep apology. Thinking how she had somehow embarrassed the elder Sand-nins.
"Oh sure, you show your respect to the elderly." frowned Kisame in irritation. "How about me? I'm older than you."
Ebizou and Chiyo felt the apology was unnecessary, but then again she was very respectful toward those were far older than her. Raetsu did taught her manners in showing respect to the elderly, those who deserved them. Respect was to given before one would receive one. That was what the deceased Snow-nin used to say in words of wisdom. The two elder Sand-nins had done just that, which Asami gratefully received and returned in her services as a Sand-nin. Naruto knew her, a little girl who had nothing more than the love of her of father, no one else, since she could remember. With Raetsu's death, the Snow kunoichi was more than surprised to have people who she call as friends or family.
To her, Kisame was kind of like a senile uncle who wouldn't let go of his youth.
"There's no need for that, Asami." chuckled the aged man that old enough to be her grandfather. Ebizou suggested, "How about we go find our seats?"
Getting to the mentioned prime seat where Gaara would be sitting was longer than they thought it would take. From the outside, high walls much like those in Naruto's Chuunin exam surrounded the battle arena. Gaara, the two village elders, and Naruto's ANBU team were escorted by two Leaf-nins that had been stationed for them at the entrance. The Kyuubi vessel recognized one of them as the refereed his match where he had to face Neji.
"Didn't expect your arrival to be this early, dear Kazekage." said Genma with the long acupuncture needle in his mouth.
Naruto had no idea who the other Leaf-nin was, seeing as he had never met or heard anything about him before. From the looks of the male shinobi, he was probably as old as Kakashi and the rest of the Jounin instructors.
"My name is Yamashiro Aoba." introduced the Leaf-nin that was wearing a pair of shades much like Shino's father, Aburame Shibi. He slightly bowed. " Let me show the way to the place where you will be seating, Kazekage-sama."
Soon enough, Gaara, Chiyo, Ebizou, and the four ANBU elite Sand-nins had arrived after walking up for several minutes. Naruto and his team took the opportunity to have a closer look around the stadium on their way. They encountered several Leaf-nins and ANBU that were on the look out; the security was tight as ever. Kabuto didn't remember having this much number than the last time he had been on the Chuunin exam that led to the invasion attempt of Sound and Sand. Upon the thought, the stadium was bigger, a larger number of ANBU and Leaf-nins were needed, and the fact that at least a known Akatsuki member was posing as Sand-nin.
'Better safe than sorry.' thought Kabuto as he detected the seventh ANBU Leaf-nin.
Naruto was surprised not expecting to see Tsunade and Shizune to be already there, they were at least two hours early before the last phase of the Jounin exam would start. He found the old hag sleeping at her seat, with Shizune startled with the Sand-nins sudden appearance. She quickly shook the slug summoner to wake her up.
"Tsunade-sama! Tsunade-sama! Wake up." pleaded Shizune in embarrassment. "They're here. The Kazekage is here."
The drowsy Fifth Hokage opened her eyes, "Hhmmm…? Oh."
Tsunade wasn't the least embarrassed or humiliated at all, she slowly stood up and stretched from her seat. She didn't get a good night sleep, after trying to figure out about the Akatsuki situation. The Hokage did hold a quick talk with Kakashi before watching him go with his team. Like wise, a swift nap while sitting wasn't too much of a trouble since she would usually doze off at her office table while marking papers. She saw Gaara, the two Sand council members, and his four bodyguards by his side. She had to ignore their presence and the arising problems for now.
"You're up and early, Kazekage-dono." commented Tsunade as she greeted the leader of the Sand-nins. "Come to think of it, you don't sleep much, do you?"
The Sannin wasn't being too formal with her important guest, seeing as they weren't in public. However she still kept her friendly nature, which Gaara didn't mind at all. She was being vigilant due to her suspicions of present Akatsuki members by Gaara's side.
"Actually I do, Hokage-dono." corrected Gaara as he took a seat.
"Really?" pondered Tsunade in interest, her drowsiness completely gone.
"I sleep from time to time, I just don't sleep as much as how other people would." said Gaara. The Shukaku vessel noticed Tsunade's interest on how Shukaku would affect him. "There's no need to worry, Hokage-dono. I don't have any more trouble about sleeping."
Tsunade turned her attention to Naruto who was standing behind the chair where his Kazekage was currently sitting. The ANBU captain was in no way blocking the elder Sand-nins view, the same as the other three ANBU that were standing around the seats Lady Chiyo and Elder Ebizou.
"I'm sorry for not introducing them yesterday." Gaara turned to the two elder Sand-nins and Tsunade. Better to divert her attention as much as possible. "This is Lady Chiyo, and her brother Ebizou."
"I think you have a vague as to who I am." smiled Chiyo as she faced the two Kage. "You did come up with the antidotes to neutralize my poisons back in the Great Shinobi Wars."
Tsunade knew upon hearing her, this was the very kunoichi that had concocted poison and venom that had upturn between the Suna and Konoha wars. The Slug-summoner noticed the still visible black color around Gaara's eyes. "Just asking, why is the skin around your eyes still black?"
Naruto, Kabuto, Kisame, and Asami were intrigued, watching Gaara just talking with Tsunade much like he did with them and other Sand-nins in Sunagakure. In the short period of time, Kabuto noticed and was astounded to Gaara's abrupt change that was much like Naruto after getting the pleasure in meeting them again.
"They're possibly permanent." said Ebizou with a cough, who leaned from his seat. "Perhaps signs or marks due to having Shukaku sealed in him."
This made Tsunade thought upon Naruto's whisker marks on his cheeks, distinct features that the Bijuu had could somehow show on its Jinchuuriki. A raccoon did have that black pattern around its eyes, as to a fox with longer distinct whiskers that of a raccoon.
"It's been a long time since we idly chat together." said Tsunade; she leaned back to her chair looking down at the empty arena below. "We've got around two hours. I guess I don't have to tell you why I'm already here?"
"No. You don't have to." said Gaara with a tone of understanding. "Any Kage would enjoy his or her time out of the office."
Tsunade raised an eyebrow, "All those paper works are finally getting to you, Kazekage-dono."
'Oh god, why did we leave early.' complained Kisame in thought. The Samehada wielder knew this was going to be longest two-hour he'd have to wait for his entire life.
Uzumaki Naruto watched Tsunade as the female Hokage and her assistant, Shizune, were talking with Gaara. Both of them somehow looked happy, as happy as they'll ever be. His heart began to ache with a deep sense of guilt and sorrow as he saw the scenery before him. The Sand ANBU captain gritted his teeth hard behind the mask, fingers clenched tight into fists, as his chest moved up and down under the body armor, which were all was hidden under the cloak.
'I'm so sorry, Oba-chan (Old granny). I really am.'
Note: Did I get the translation right?
The Kyuubi vessel heard footsteps coming from the stairs that they had previously climbed through. From the sounds of it, more than just two people made them. The Sand ANBU elites knew there were five people in total, but so far they could only identify two of them. There they were, Sakura and Kakashi, accompanying three shinobis that were wearing dark blue shinobi vests. Judging by the symbol on their forehead protectors, Kabuto, Asami, and Kisame could tell that the three were Waterfall-nins. Their ANBU captain recognized one of them upon seeing his face.
"Nice to see that you could come and join us, Shibuki-san." Tsunade stood up from her seat. "I hope the short trip went smoothly."
The long black haired Jounin shook the Hokage's hand in greeting. "It's nice to see you too, Hokage-dono. The trip was fine. I was surprised to see Sakura, Kakashi, and Sasuke on the way coming up here."
"Sorry to tell you that Naruto hasn't come back yet." said Tsunade in regret.
"Sakura-san already told me about it. I sometimes wonder when will he come back." replied Shibuki.
The Waterfall-nin named Shibuki then looked at Gaara. Tsunade didn't have the need to introduce them to one another, since there were the occasional meetings of all Ninja villages within Konoha's alliance. Consisting of the Leaf-nins, Sand-nins, Waterfall-nins, Grass-nins, and Rain-nins. The number of all the Waterfall-nins put together were small, in fact, smallest out of the nine still existing Hidden Villages. Currently, Konoha could fully rely on Sand-nins and Waterfall-nins in any need of help if there were ever such need.
"Looks like you've brought a lot of friends along with you, Kazekage-dono." commented Shibuki, referring to Naruto and the rest of the present Sand-nins. "They don't look quite friendly to me."
One of the Waterfall-nins watched the large hilt of Samehada with discomfort. Kisame however had his eyes at Kakashi and was waving his hand playfully. The other one felt disturbed as he stared at the creepy demon mask Naruto was wearing, he had sworn that he saw flickers of red in the eyeholes. He backed away gingerly and was the first time having second thoughts about the idea of volunteering as a bodyguard. Each Village leader had their own set of guards by their side.
The Godaime Hokage Tsunade had Shizune, Sakura, and Kakashi.
The Jounin leader Shibuki had the two Jounins by his side.
The Godaime Kazekage Gaara had two retired shinobis, whom were now only council members, and four ANBU Sand-nins.
Sakura hoped that might be the coming Jounin leader of the Grass would bring in two more bodyguards to even the odds just in case the Sand-nins tried anything.
---------A level below, somewhere in the lines of numerous seated spectators----------------
Sarutobi Asuma was at the top, smoking a cigarette as he leaned on the wall for look out. He could see Chouji munching a bag of potato chips way below, lower down, was Yamanaka Ino. At the lowest case, was Nara Shikamaru looked never lazier before in his whole life. He was positioned at the railing where the sheer drop would lead anyone to the fighting arena below. Team 10 was had been in charge on guarding the section of landlords with the aid of three ANBU Leaf-nins.
"Well look who came to visit you, Shikamaru." teased Chouji loud enough for the lazy shadow binder to hear. "It's your girlfriend."
"How troublesome…" sighed Shikamaru as usual.
He looked up to see the approaching Sand kunoichi as she passed Chouji, and gave an intimidating look to Ino. Sadly enough, the Yamanaka ignored her as she turned to look somewhere else.
Shikamaru heaved another sigh. "Two woman fighting one another. Just when I thought things couldn't get any worse."
"Guard duty again?" Temari asked the obvious. Shikamaru was already used to the wind mistress's mockery.
"Apparently." mumbled Shikamaru.
"You just can't stop showing that lazy face of yours, can you?" asked Temari, sitting on the railing.
'What's her problem…' thought Shikamaru. Instead of going on rambling on about how God had made his face this way and how he was born with it, Shikamaru decided to save his energy and time in just saying. "No…"
Temari gave a glance at the battleground below. "Don't worry, I'll be here to save your lazy ass once more if anything turns up."
Asuma exhaled some smoke out into the air, his mind contemplating about his team's current situation after the years went by since he picked them up from their classroom.
Chouji was still hung up on eating constantly, but at least he trained just as much. Ino was the same, she still took care of looks just as much as she trained. The longer platinum blonde hair, fish net coverings on her thighs and elbows. The lazy bum Shikamaru was somehow being able to manage some form of relationship with the Sand kunoichi while still being lazy at the same time.
Kankurou was in a different situation as he surveyed his surrounding. After coming out from a corridor into the rows of seats, he had met with one of the least favorite shinobi.
"It seem our paths have crossed once again." said Shino in a mysterious manner.
Even with the drastic change of clothing, the Aburame clan member wasn't too hard to be compared. A large black clothing that was high collared, which still covered the part of his mouth, an opened jacket where the hood was now covering his hair from view just like an ANBU, with nicer looking pair of shades, and visible part between his sandals and pants were now bandaged just like any other Jounin. In other words, his fashion sense just got more mysterious.
'Of all people….' dreaded Kankurou in his mind.
The two long hours passed by, as Naruto and everyone that was present at the top box could see the large number of people entering and slowly filling the seats of the stadium. The landlords of Fire and Wind Country were seated in a different section, away from the other spectators, which had more ANBU and Jounin Leaf-nins standing guard.
'Never seen this much ANBU in one place before,' thought Kisame behind the mask.
"That's odd, the match is about to start and Shintara hasn't come yet." said Shibuki. "I thought he'd come and see his Grass-nin in battle."
The Leaf-nins were suspicious more than ever; Tsunade was the one most troubled. She knew something really bad was going to happen since she just had her suspicions confirmed this morning. Two cracked cups followed by a first place prize from her gambling ticket that she had checked while reading the morning paper. Things aren't looking good after the recent events over the years she'd become the fifth Hokage. The destruction of Otogakure, no news of Akatsuki since she last heard of Jiraiya, but then to suddenly show themselves in the open, as Sand-nins.
The stage was set, Mitarashi Anko was the referee in front of a line of the four remaining exam candidates. Each ninja representing their own village as their own fellow comrades have come to watch. The field where the fight would take place was as big and wide as a football field, but all the spectators could just easily watch them without any sort of problem. Unlike the Chuunin exam, they only take the last four instead of the usual eight candidates.
There was Uchiha Sasuke on the farthest right, in his dark green Chuunin vest. The proud Uchiha symbol, red and white fan, on both sides of his short sleeve could be seen. He was wearing a new Konoha head protector, he got this one when Tsunade had Kakashi deliver it all thanks to last night's sparring. The two pieces of his old headband was in a drawer, next to his bed. He was wearing the black pants just like all the other average Chuunins and Jounins, including the bandage wrapping in between his thigh and his kunai holster.
Yosuke Takagi was obviously the shortest of the four, as he wore his Suna head protector over his forehead. His Chuunin was sand brown, with pockets not as many that of a Leaf-nin's own, and it's unique look of shoulder guards. He had short chocolate brown that were all somehow combed backwards. In a trait or common look in his family and clan was the long sideburn that were made to look like an ant lion's pincers.
Ebora Shirou was the tallest as he was the oldest. Clad in a gray vest over a long sleeved dark blue shirt. He had coal black hair, though there were signs of stress judging by his little visible graying hair. There already strands of white hair around, of course anyone who wanted to see it had to get a closer look.
Yashiharu Taiyama was the oddball that clearly stands out from the rest. She didn't wear any vest like the rest. She had her Grass headband protector tied around her left bicep. The kunoichi was wearing a necklace what seemed to be dangling assorted thorns. Something shinobis don't usually see, even when they heard some necklaces that had claws, fangs, or small pieces of bones. Her long black hair was tied down in a ponytail. She was in a long sleeved light green dress, long enough to totally the tip of her nails from view. The cloth trailed down, only to be cut near the thighs, leaving a piece at the front and the back. The few things she had in common were the usual black pants and shinobi sandals. There wasn't even a kunai holster or a weapons pouch visible.
Once again Tsunade stood up from her seat, and coughed a little in clearing her throat. She was going to raise her voice as loud as she can to speak with the spectators that were sitting another level below. She had done this every time Konoha would hold the Chuunin or Jounin exams, and she was about to do it once more.
"Thank you to all of you who have managed to come in watching the final phase of the Konohagakure Final Jounin exam. We will now start the main event, between all these four contestants who have managed to make their way here to the finals."
Back down on the arena, Anko was going to have a word or two with the four Chuunin contestants. She reached into the pocket inside her brown jacket, and pulled out a folded paper.
"Look here you midgets."
Which totally didn't fit the call seeing as all four of them weren't that small at all. The Waterfall-nin, Ebora Shirou, was practically taller than Anko and the other three. Takagi who was the youngest and shortest shinobi down there could probably outgrow the special ranked Jounin in three or four more years. The Grass-nin kunoichi had been smiling since ever since anyone could remember her entering Konohagakure.
"After some time discussing, we've already decided on who will be fighting who." ranted Anko.
Takagi gulped in nervousness as he looked at his name to see who was going to fight with and when. Just in case they had made some changes in the plan, they already told him that he would be fighting the Waterfall-nin.
Semi Finals:
Yosuke Takagi versus Ebora Shirou
Uchiha Sasuke versus Yashiharu Taiyama.
'Perfect.' chuckled Orochimaru in his mind. Starting between Sasuke and Anko 'Just perfect. My dear Sasuke and Anko…isn't this a perfect gathering …'
Anko decided to read it out anyways "The first match, Yosuke Takagi of the Sand versus Ebora Shirou of the Waterfall. The two of you midgets have to go wait at your own respective places."
Sasuke and the disguised Orochimaru went on different directions, as they were going to wait at opposite sides of the field. It was something new since now, where shinobis from different villages had to wait in their respective prepared rooms. It was to avoid any form of sabotage and because of a recent incident where shinobis actually fought before they got to their own turn. It involved a certain Uchiha and a Rain-nin, where the Leaf-nin had beaten his opponent after the Rain-nin tried to for a preemptive strike while the other match was going on. In any case, the snake Sannin didn't care one bit. It was nothing more but a delay, he could've take over Sasuke's body anytime he wanted ever since he had infiltrated Konoha. However, doing that wouldn't actually be going as he had carefully planned earlier.
'Delay the imminent destruction all you want, Tsunade….'
Anko stood in between Takagi and the Waterfall-nin, Shirou, and was about to clarify the rules. "Same rules apply like last time. The winner will be announced when it becomes all too obvious. I may intervene anytime. Anyone of you may quit any time once the match has begin."
The special Jounin took out a kunai and licked it in a bloodcurdling behavior.
'She says that, but I think she would look more happy when one of us dies…' thought Takagi.
The taller shinobi teased before the fight would start. "Why don't you go back home and play in your little sand box or something? Cause you're fighting the guy who had beaten the apprentice of a Sannin."
This time, Takagi wasn't intimidated at all. Baki had already told him everything he knew about the Waterfall-nin since yesterday. Sometimes, it helps to have a loudmouth shinobi like Chiro as a teammate.
"So what, if you beat some girl? Either way, you're just going to fail this Jounin exam just like the previous ones. Was it seven or eight? A shinobi like you should know you're better off as a Chuunin for the rest of shinobi days."
Baki, Chiro, and Hirami were watching intently from their seats, much like how Gaara and the other Sand-nins were. The surrounding Leaf-nins realized that if the foreign ninja manages to get promoted to Jounin, he would be one of those exceptional shinobis to rise through ranks easily. He's only fourteen years old, compared to Kakashi and Itachi who both managed to get promoted to Jounin rank by their thirteenth birthday. However, the fresh Sand-nin had only taken and passed his Chuunin exam six months ago. And now, he was there once again in the Jounin exam.
"You show him, Takagi!" cheered Chiro out loud from his seat. "Kick his butt and wipe the floor clean with it!"
The nearby spectators, especially Konoha's Genins, were puzzled as to how the immature boisterous shinobi had managed to get himself promoted to becoming a Chuunin, after seeing the clear indication by his light gray Chuunin vest.
"You didn't have to say the last part, dumb ass." said Hirami.
Baki whacked his student at the back of his head, "She's right. Now just sit quietly and watch."
The Waterfall-nin's plan had easily backfired, he was already getting angrier by the second. The Chuunin was only twenty-four years old, but it was true that he had failed the Jounin exams seven times. He should be given credit to the fact he had managed to live through all seven of them.
"I'm going to kill you."
"Not if I kill you first." smirked Takagi.
"Alright, ladies. Enough girl talk." said Anko. She took a deep breath and shouted out loud. "First Round! Yosuke Takagi versus Ebora Shirou! Begin!"
The Waterfall-nin immediately jumped away backwards, making distance from the other. His opponent was hot on his trails, trying the close in the distance with a kunai. Overall, it would seem that the Sand-nin was quickly rushing into battle probably showing a sign of reckless or negligence.
From the top box above, Naruto had his own speculation about both of the Chuunin. 'Takagi probably knows that the Waterfall-nin is most likely a long-range attacker, so he's moving in for a close combat,'
He was somehow curious as to how the Waterfall-nin managed to beat Sakura, an apprentice to a Sannin with super human strength and specialized in Taijutsu.
'No water and no sand.' commented Kisame, with crossed arms under the cloak. 'Both of them are at equal terms.'
The two shinobis were now drawing weapons from either their weapons pouch or kunai holster. This caused Naruto to look at Sasuke and then to Kakashi. The Kyuubi vessel knew that Uchiha Itachi's little brother had most likely have his Sharingan activated. As Gaara, Kisame, Kabuto, Asami, Chiyo, and Ebizou realized and understood by Naruto's slight movements. However, the Copy Kakashi hadn't raised his Konoha headband in revealing his left eye Sharingan yet.
'Which one are you going to copy when both of them decides to use Ninjutsus simultaneously, Sasuke-teme (bastard)?' mused Naruto.
The three Waterfall-nins including the one that was currently fighting hadn't seemed to grasp upon the idea how Sasuke could take the opportunity, gaining an advantage in going later on. He was going to copy and add any Ninjutsu to his list of already large collection of Ninjutsus.
Shirou threw several shurikens as a start in trying to slow the following shinobi. Though Takagi just parried the thrown metallic weapons with the kunai in his right hand or dodge some of them. The resilient young Sand-nin was about to make his move after following the still jumping shinobi. The shurikens merely fell down on the ground, as he took out several more shurikens with his left hand. He threw his own set of kunais and shurikens at the Waterfall-nin, which he also stopped them with his kunai. In a few minutes since the fight started, the battleground was already littered with discarded shurikens and kunais everywhere.
'So he's already using that technique? A quick finish?' wondered Baki as he watched his student to continue emptying his weapons couch and kunai holster.
Takagi threw the last of his shurikens at the Waterfall-nin, since the match seemed dull in the eyes of the spectators. Simply the throwing of shurikens and kunais here and there, not a simple Bunshin (clone) had been performed.
"I see he has made preparations with Baki in this final phase of the Jounin exam. The young boy is quite good since this is his first time taking it. I had doubts as why to Baki would want to quickly enter his fresh team in this Jounin exam." smiled Ebizou.
"He always did take the most troubling bunch of Genins under his wing." added the old kunoichi with amusement. "With that great sense of finding hidden talents of his. Perhaps he also has something special that had attracted Baki's attention?"
Both of the Sand council members chortled in their seats, Gaara looking down to Takagi with the thought that he used to be one of those Genins.
"All right, if that's how you want to go." gritted Shirou in frustration as he had only a few kunais and explosion tags left, and had to finish it quick if he wanted to win. The older Waterfall-nin was fed up with the constant chase and mere shuriken and kunai throwing. He needed water, and plenty of it, if he wanted to show his specialties. He began making seals without thinking that Sasuke could be copying them.
All the shinobi elites who see or sense chakra in anyway could already feel some fairly big amount of chakra being poured into using the technique. The ground of the arena slightly rumbled under the fighting contestants. Takagi wasted no time in just waiting for the unknown attack to come, so he directed the kunais and shurikens for another round of attack. Takagi noticed a small crack on the earth not too far from his opponent, and saw water slowly pouring out like a spring.
Kisame had his sharky grin under the ANBU mask. 'He's somehow using chakra to draw water up from underground. It won't last long if he stops channeling out his chakra.'
"He's heavily dependent on water." assessed Shizune, by Tsunade's side.
"Right." agreed Tsunade with a slight nod. "But from the looks of it, a lot amount of chakra is spent in pumping the water up."
Sakura pouted, "I think I would've beaten him if you hadn't decided to organize the Jounin preliminary match back at the forest."
Down at the line of seated spectators, Chiro couldn't contain his voice anymore.
"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU WAITING FOR, TAKAGI! ATTACK HIM!" bellowed Chiro in rage, pointing a finger at the Waterfall-nin. "SHOW HIM YOUR NINJUTSUS OR SOMETHING!"
"He doesn't want to," pointed out Baki.
Chiro looked confused, and turned to his Jounin instructor. "But why?"
Baki looked at Hirami, expecting her to give the answer. All the kunoichi did was raised an eyebrow and shrugged. "…Cause he wants to save his chakra?"
"The Uchiha might copy them." corrected Baki.
"But…but…he'll lose if he just stands there doing nothing." said Chiro.
Shirou was at the advantage, since the technique had somehow managed to draw out water deep under ground. His fingers touched onto the puddle, and leaked more chakra into it. The water was taking shape in between the shinobi's fingers, and that was bad for Takagi.
"Water Element: Spring Rush Technique!"
The water burst out from the crack of earth, flowing violently at the Sand-nin like a high-pressured hose. It wasn't really doing serious harm, but Takagi was washed away from his position. The rush sent him all the way to the end of the arena, as the water kept on pushing and pushing him towards the wall. Takagi felt his hands, body, and legs grow numb. The water assault finally stopped, leaving its victim falling to his knees on to the wet ground below him. Ebora Shirou was just getting started.
"Mizu Shuriken (Water Shuriken)!"
Numerous flying water-made shurikens soared out of the puddle of water like birds, towards the fallen Takagi. He forced his body to roll out of the way. But. the assault wasn't stopping as more and more shuriken followed his trail, eventually catching him. He was the one that was now getting lacerated by the sharp projectiles; he had four of them imbedded through his Chuunin vest before splashing away. The 'flock' of water projectiles hit him like he was a log target practice. Enough said, the Sand-nin fell onto the ground and exploded into a puff of smoke, revealing a decimated log.
"We're not done yet, boy." said Shirou. The shinobi used some more of his chakra to draw out more water. Judging by the puddles of water around, he had more than enough. The water flowing out from the small spring retreated back down to the underground stream below.
Takagi was breathing hard as he hid himself behind a tree, slowly taking assessing his current condition. By the looks of the four small wounds, Takagi knew that he was badly hurt even after his Chuunin vest had managed to take the worse of the hits. He was losing blood, and lots of it.
'I should've used my Ninjutsus earlier…' contemplated Takagi with a heave. 'Who cares if that up tight Uchiha gets to copy them down? I might not win one match at all at this rate.'
The Sand-nin came up with a technique, he touched some of the blood from his wound and made the proper five-sequenced hand seals that his father had taught him.
"Kuchiyose no Jutsu (Summoning Technique)." whispered Takagi, trying to conserve his energy. He had just spent half of chakra reserve. It was followed by the predictable burst of smoke, signaling the crossing between dimensions of a summoning.
An ant lion, with the headband of Suna, was now looking around from the clearing smoke. That was only thing the summoning was wearing, no vest of any piece of cloth. It was around the same size as the giant centipede that Naruto once encountered and killed in his Chuunin exam. The ant lion wasn't hiding itself in a pit, so its whole body was visible for everyone to see. Takagi actually saw how his summoning looked like without popping its head out the sand. It looked like a mayfly with huge pincers and had very hairy legs, more specifically like bristles.
"This better be good, Takagi. Because I don't see a single grain of sand around here," warned the ant lion with a voice much that of a man, in the still disappearing smoke.
The summoning understood how severe the situation was after seeing the blood stained Chuunin vest on his summoner.
"What trouble did you get yourself into, this time?" asked the ant lion.
"Can we talk about this later, Baka?" requested Takagi with a wince. "Somehow you and I need to beat a Waterfall-nin without actually killing him."
"Waterfall-nin? Seriously, what trouble have you got yourselves into? It's usually that other teammate of yours always in trouble. Fine, fine. But you owe big." obeyed Baka, thinking the condition was worsening by the second. It walked a few steps backwards and began disappearing itself in the ground like it was actually part of it. "Soil is much more difficult to burrow through than sand."
"By the way, you've got some very hairy legs." mentioned Takagi upon remembering the short glance of his summoning's four back legs.
"You've got the nerve to ask for my help and then criticize how I look," said Baka as it's head finally disappeared. Takagi could still hear his summoning's muffled voice under ground. "It's not just for show, it's for anchoring myself in the sand. Gives me a better grip while I put up with a struggling prey."
(Note: I'm not good with this idea of naming characters in Japanese. Always did jumble up some characters name together. I found the word ant lion in Japanese is either usubakagerou or arijigoku; I decided to take the short of baka (stupid) from usubakagerou.)
Takagi didn't hear anything coming from underground after a few minutes, as the ant lion had finally moved away. "All I need to do now is stop this bleeding."
The Sand-nin remembered the little gift he had received earlier, and then unbuttoned the pocket where he remembered keeping it. The tiny crimson red round pill was in between his thumb and index finger, and he was about to put it in his mouth. He heard a rustle of leaves coming from above the tree he was resting to.
"Having a little snack?"
Takagi's eyes widened as he looked up to see the Waterfall-nin standing on the bark of the tree using his chakra tree climbing ability. He was holding something transparent in his hand, something that looked like a sword….
The chakra flowing from the Shirou's feet had stopped, causing him to fall down onto the wounded Sand-nin with the water sword ready for the kill. His prey just stared upwards with the pill still in his hand, as the tip of the sword was about to make its way into his head. The Waterfall-nin had a triumphant smirk as he leapt down.
"I win, boy."
Mwa ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha! I bet you readers must really be hating me right now!
You know the drill, RATE AND REVIEW people! The last chapter didn't get as much reviews at the previous ones. I've got 77 people having this fiction as their alerts and favorites. The least you people could do is send me a simple compliment. It's be the best if someone give some ideas or critics that I could build on and add on my next chapters. I've already got the next chapter half way ready, a few suggestions could spice up the fight a little more.