hey, I've returned with yet another chapter!
I hope it isn't too boring for y'all :(
To me, I had a lot of trouble writing this damn chapter
Either way, enjoy!
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or League of Legends
Chapter 5: Coincidence?
Shikamaru had never seen such a delirious shinobi in his life. Gaara roared and screamed, doing his best to fight against the medic ninja. They were simply trying to pick him up and place him onto a stretcher. His roars and howls sent cold shivers up and down his spine. The redhead was intent on murdering his blond friend and for what? There was animosity right from the get-go. Putting the fire between the two shinobi aside, Shikamaru still had questions that were in dire need of answers. For a lazy guy, he was willing to go to great lengths to get information; else he would lose his mind in all sorts of ways forcing him out of his laziness nonetheless. Heaving a sigh, judging by Naruto's blank and expressionless face, the fights were going to continue.
Suddenly, a loud pop was heard, earning gasps and shouts of surprise. In the arena, a great plume of smoke had appeared as white as the clouds above. The Hokage sighed, bringing his palm to his face with a groan of disappointment. His black eyes trailed to the untimely pair that it most likely could have been. As the smoke cleared it came to reveal a jōnin standing with an orange book in his hands with a lazy pose as he leaned upon one leg. Beside him was a short boy bearing but a darker, noir, black color scheme. In a way it accentuated the boy's radiating power and in another way exemplified his avenger status. He was clever and felt beyond confident if his stature and stance was anything to merit. Sasuke looked ready to kill with that half-smirk drawn across his face.
Ahri blanched, confused as to whether she should cry from laughter or cry from how ridiculous the boy in the black onesie looked. Sasuke's hair had grown a more profound semblance to a duck's ass, bringing laughter from the dumbfounded fox. Her tails swished about, pulsating with her infectious laughter. She giggled when Sasuke's smile dropped. Ahri had to hand it to the kid, he wasn't labeled as a genius for nothing. The look of surprise in his eyes was only the icing on the cake. His stance and hands fell slack as he stood straight to face the already beat up Naruto. All around, Ahri relished in his growing realization of his tardiness. Fires raged and sand had covered much of the battlefield. Holes had ruined the flatland of the arena floor. But it was when everything finally clicked in the Uchiha's brain that threw Ahri overboard with her laughter.
"What happened?!" Sasuke growled. "Why is there sand?!"
"You've been disqualified, Sasuke." Genma frowned. "Kakashi…I expected better."
The Hatake blinked for a few seconds. "Hmm. Maybe helping that old woman was a bad idea…"
Sasuke's eyes fell wide with his arms practically dead weight. His defeated expression sent shivers of delight throughout Ahri's body filling her with much needed content to use to bring herself out of her slump. Being forced into the fox form because of her uncontrollable anger was beginning to become one of the most physically and mentally debilitating abilities she had. Every time she entered the form, she could feel her sanity and inhibitions disappear. She couldn't control her emotions and whatever happened, well, happened. She needed to get a grip on her anger and her hatred, but the chakra within her and Naruto was just so powerful and malicious…the chakra just seemed so tantalizing. Sadly, with all the knowledge her master, who will remain unnamed for the sake of her container's well-being, the man couldn't teach her how to deal with Kurama's chakra.
He never explained how it was toxic and drove those strong enough to not die from radiation, mad with insanity. He also never explained how emotions were direct links to the chakra. She frowned placing her soft forehead against the great metal bars of her mindscape prison releasing a sigh akin to hurricane winds. Even after more than eighty years, she could barely control the intake, hell the creation of her coils and the sheer amount of chakra that Kurama had forced into her. To think, a demon would do such a thing to her and run away like a bitch. She struggled against the growing fox furs crawling from her spine to cover the rest of her body. It felt like crawling insects spreading filth and jittery sensations across her nerves and skin. Such a feeling was beyond what could be considered pleasant. She was uncomfortable, feeling the fur already released rub her clothing the wrong way. It was infuriating and extremely itchy.
However, now she had a theory on how to negate the effects long enough to forget her anger. Anger was an emotion with a polar opposite; happiness. As ridiculously simple as it was, it was a bit more complicated than she thought. At least there was something that always made her happy beyond comprehension. At least, genuinely happy. With a smirk, she called upon her jailer getting his attention. Appearing before her, the Uzumaki looked at the woman with worried eyes. After all, her voice was practically pleading. Naruto sped as close to the bars as he could without getting blasted back by chakra.
"What happened, Noona?" Naruto asked quickly.
Ahri threw her hands to her bosom. "I was wondering if my boobs looked too big in this-."
Heat rose to her cheeks when she felt his hands wrap around hers. Judging by the pink tinge on his cheeks, he was just as embarrassed. Something exploded within Ahri's body and soon enough, the fur began to flee, disappearing from her skin. A smile found its way onto her face when Naruto hadn't pulled his hands from hers. Naruto began to ramble, going on about perverts and how he wasn't one, all the while with his hands pressed against hers. Poor idiot didn't realize his hands were pressing against her buxom chest. Ahri giggled menacingly feeling the fur recede to her tails. She found her answer and her jailor's weakness. There was no way someone couldn't realize their hands pressing against breasts as nice as hers (Those are her words, no one else has agreed).
Slowly and carefully, the Gumiho swiped her hands free from his pressure. He obviously didn't notice since his hands were only pressed harder. Her blush darkened and another laugh was threatening to escape her lungs. Ahri's smile grew as Naruto's eyes finally opened to reveal glimmering sapphire blue irides.
"Hey…" She whispered with a sultry tone, leaning towards the bars. "Dong-Saeng…look where your hands are."
He gave her a confused look before finally taking notice. If his eyelids widened any further, she was certain his eyes would have literally popped from his head. No longer were his cheeks pink, now they were radiating red, almost like boiling blood. He was frozen like a statue, hands pressed against her chest and barely a thought churning in that head of his. Almost like lightning though, his hands snapped to his body. Fluid like water, the Uzumaki spun on his feet turning his back to the cackling Gumiho. Judging by the bent elbows and hunched back, the poor boy was hiding something. The fox tilted her head all the while, biting her lip with a seductive pose.
"Byeong-shin." Ahri called, feeling her beaming smile split her face. "Get out of here…you have a fight coming."
Forcing himself from his mindscape, his cheeks burned slightly from this close encounter. He got enough from her at the Hot Springs, he most definitely didn't need her bothering him with her strange sense of humor during the fights. Naruto deadpanned, feeling the blush recede. It was strange how she'd always do something perverted or seductive out of the blue, almost as if she was a sadistic tease. Oh who was he kidding; she is a sadistic tease. Naruto couldn't lie to himself; Ahri was a gorgeous woman. She was far more beautiful than most women he'd seen in his life, but there was no way in hell he'd try to get with her. She's like what. Eighty something years old?
"I'm actually thousands of years old." Ahri chimed, blowing on her nails with a knowing smirk on her face.
He face-palmed. He should have been more careful about what he said to himself. That woman could hear everything and anything he thought, whether he wanted her to or not. Whenever she didn't respond, it was more than likely that she chose to ignore or was asleep. Turning his thoughts to the mindscape, Ahri leaned against the wall, using her tails as a bed and pillow. Yup. Whenever he feels he has free time to think, she's probably just asleep. Turning his thoughts to the arena once again; there were only three people remaining in the fights; Himself, Shino and Shikamaru. Now that Naruto thought about it, he fought the hardest opponents.
Deadpanning once more, Shino and Shikamaru already looked about ready to surrender leaving him to win due to technicality. The Uzumaki glared at his lazy friend and the scary bug friend. He would be damned if he won this tournament without another fight. He brought his right hand to his face, ready to wipe the sweat trickling down his brow. But before his hand could reach his skin, his eyes caught sight of the obscene amount of blood that slicked his forearm to the elbow. Flashes of putting his arm through Gaara's chest appeared in his thoughts, almost like a storm of electric shocks. He jolted, shooting his arm away from his face.
"Hey, Naruto." Genma called. "Are you alright?"
"Y-Yeah…" The Uzumaki shook his head trying to rid the image of Gaara's frozen expression from his mind. "I'm just excited for the final fights."
The jōnin wasn't convinced but didn't pry. With a scoff the jōnin turned to the crowds prepared to call upon the next contender. "Genin."
Sakura was awestricken and heartbroken at the exclusion and disqualification of Sasuke, but watched in earnest, prepared to stick through the Exams and at least cheer on Naruto. After all, he is her teammate and Ino might start a scene if she didn't. Bringing her eyes to scan the crowds, shinobi and civilian alike were surprised, to say the least, about Naruto's actual combat and tactical knowhow. In fact, even Sakura was thrown in a loop, confused and frozen in fear of Naruto's knowledge. Of course, she assumed Sasuke must have gotten better with Kakashi, but that didn't explain where Naruto got all of this power. If having one on one training with a jōnin can create results like that…why haven't I been trained?
Turning her eyes back to the orange clad blond in the center of the arena, she noticed something different about him. His demeanor changed and for a moment, she could have sworn his arm started twitching. She watched him carefully, examining the arm he used to plow through another genin. Not only that, her thoughts were understandably concentrated on his previous fight, wondering how Gaara survived the point blank suicide bomber shadow clone, and her mind was still reeling from seeing his arm punch through another human being. So many questions and not enough answers. Sakura interlocked her fingers as she examined the surprising blond who happened to never run out of tricks and surprises. Unbeknownst to the platinum blonde who had been screaming out Naruto and Shikamaru's names, Sakura spied the blond in the arena clutching his blood covered right arm.
What happened? Sakura wondered. Does he need a medic?
While Naruto showed no expression aside from content and peace, Sakura could see the pain in his eyes. Tilting her head slightly, her suspicions were right. The blood covered arm began to twitch and shake but thankfully, his left arm was doing its job at quelling much of the movement. For a moment, the Haruno felt herself worrying for her blond teammate for the first time since the preliminaries. Those eyes of his burned with fear and surprise, it was so obvious. Of course, with the fights he'd just done and completed; both opponents should have won but somehow, the Uzumaki fought and won. The mental strain and the physical pain he must be feeling at this point, Sakura couldn't hope to comprehend. He shot his arm through another genin for crying out loud! I'd be more terrified if he didn't feel anything after doing something like that…
"Forehead." Ino called, pulling Sakura from her thoughts. "You lost or something?"
Sakura shook her head softly. "No…I'm just worried about Naruto…"
"Huh…" The blonde gave her pinkette friend a confused look. "Ain't that a first?"
The Haruno winced at the jab. Ino was damn right about that. How careless the girl had been up to this point, barely even acknowledging her teammate. "There's a first for everything."
Ino smirked softly before finally falling back into her seat. "Well…I wonder who's going to surrender first; Shino or Shikamaru."
Gaara stared at him with an empty expression that sent shivers up and down his spine. Such eyes that held a fire unlike any other…had been extinguished. The teal color had faded, degrading to a light grey. His jaw hung slack. Naruto could feel his final breath leaving his lungs. Instead of through his throat, the air escaped from the gaping hole he had created. Like a popped balloon, air rushed against his blood slicked forearm. He could feel the pressure beat against his bare skin. The orange sleeves were painted with blood but the bones and shredded flesh pushed his sleeve back.
Fearful and unready to face the genin, Naruto could hear the final sigh before death. They stood like that, frozen in time. His arm through another person's chest. He reasoned with himself, ignoring the ravings of the fox within; ignoring the screams and cries from the otherwise, silent crowd. He told himself it was okay, but such words helped as much as they would help the deaf. Warmth enclosed his arm as blood coursed through the lacerated veins and arteries. He wouldn't dare look at his victim. He wouldn't dare face the genin he'd sentenced to death.
Killing is allowed.
Killing is allowed.
Killing is –
"Naruto!" Ahri's sweet yet equally worried voice tore through the jaded memory.
Ahri… Naruto whispered softly, hand clenching his shivering wrist.
"Snap out of it…" She said with a worried look. "Your arm is beginning to shake out of control…"
To his surprise; Ahri was right. He could barely contain the tremble. Shutting his eyes for just a moment caused a searing fire within his mind. He could see Gaara's face, his fear and his death. Sasuke's death in wave was nothing like what he bore witness with Gaara. While Sasuke sacrificed himself to save someone, Gaara died because Naruto couldn't control himself. He had the Spirit Rush down to a tee, but he let himself go in the fight. He let himself go blank and let the fight handle itself. He acted the way he used to; he didn't think. He acted on impulse and if Gaara wasn't a Jinchuriki like himself, he would have given the entire village a true reason to think of him as a monster. Eyeing the quivering hand of his, he grabbed the fingers and forced them together, doing what little he could to quell the trauma.
Damn this…
"Alright…" Genma called. "With the defeat of Sabaku no Gaara, it is time to move up the fights to the semi-finals."
The crowds roared in affirmation, excited for the next string of action. The three final shinobi remaining were all from Konohagakure, gaining a few disgruntled looks and uncomfortable seating shifts in those from Sunagakure. But even worse, the shinobi from Suna knew what form Gaara had taken. He was nearing release and the blond was about to spring their trap sooner than they thought. Fortunately or unfortunately, the boy managed to seal or somehow negate the redhead's ability to channel and mold chakra. He even managed to shut off Shukaku just in time bringing a few of the jōnin to rethink the invasion. But for now, all the mattered was sticking to the plan until the Kazekage decided to pull back.
"Aburame Shino, come down."
Shino took a deep breath before finally coming to the conclusion.
"Oh no." Shikamaru stared at the bug user with wide eyes. "You're going to, aren't you?!"
All heads turned to the competitor's box. Shino sighed softly. "Yes. I am. I am not suited for close quarters combat, I will lose no matter what I try. Proctor. I surrender."
Genma nodded in understanding and turned to the Nara sweating bullets. "Nara Shikamaru, you're not surrendering too, are you?"
"Shika!" Naruto yelled. "Don't you dare surrender! I didn't fight to the semi-finals just to win because you gave up!"
Judging by the frustrated sigh echoing from the competitor's box, through the stairwell and into the arena itself, Shikamaru was already beginning to regret winning his fight with Temari. Running a hand through his black pineapple styled hair, he groaned against the pressure the stares of the crowds had against his back. Eyeing his opponent with every thought churning out strategies; if this were the preliminaries Shikamaru would have approached this fight with a much calmer, laid back strategy. But after the month of training had passed, he'd seen firsthand Naruto's growth and even a few tricks he hadn't seen before being used in the previous fights. As far as momentary, short-term plans, he had to trap Naruto in his shadow possession and find a way to subdue him before he could use that strange flash-step attack he used on Gaara.
Examining Naruto's physical status, the blond had an arm covered entirely by the blood of his victim, who managed to heal from the attack leaving nothing, not even a scar. Images of the skin and flesh merging together sent more shivers up and down the Nara's spine. Pushing those thoughts to the deepest parts of his mind, he finally caught sight of the shuddering arm, struggling and trapped within his hand's interlaced fingers. Something happened shortly after the fight that must be messing with Naruto's mental state. While the twitching wasn't as bad as it was before he was called down to the arena, it was quite visible to those who knew what they were looking for. Eyeing the beads of sweat trickling like waterfalls against his temples, it was safe to assume that Naruto was beginning to lose his wits. The Uzumaki released his bloodied arm and shook the crimson hand about, successfully hiding the quivering mess with an attempt to wake his hand up.
"Are you alright, Naruto?" Shikamaru asked with a raised brow.
The boy in question answered the way he knew he would. "Of course I am! Are you alright, though? It seems that nap you've been hoping for will come a lot sooner than you think!"
"I'll get my nap sooner or later anyway." Shika fell to a stance. "That part is non-negotiable."
"Alright you two!" Genma roared, gaining the resounding screams of the crowds. "Uzumaki Naruto! Are you ready?!"
"Yes!" Naruto shouted against the rumbling roar of the stands.
"Nara Shikamaru! Are you ready?!"
"Yes!" He glared at Naruto.
"Begin!"
"Kage Mane/Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"
"What?!"
Shikamaru held the rat hand seal, with a glare on his face. A smirk appeared making Naruto realize the Nara had a clever remark prepared.
"Nope." He laughed. "Not gonna happen this time, Naruto."
The blond was frozen in place by the great shadow that already trapped him in place. Struggling to fight against the vice-like grip the Nara held on him, Naruto cursed his stupidity. A few meters behind Shikamaru, a hole was found, hidden by debris, sand and fire. Directly behind Naruto, the other end of that hole was found, surrounded in sand from his previous fight with Gaara. Forcing his way to glare at Shikamaru, his hands fell from the cross hand seal and assumed a rat hand seal as his captor. For a moment, the Nara wanted to feel victorious but he knew this was just the beginning. Somewhere, there was a shadow clone waiting to strike.
"Hey…" Naruto laughed. "Try again."
Chakra exploded from every pore and tenketsu in and on his body. The shadow was torn away, receding just enough for the Uzumaki to escape. Taking it upon himself to make a series of backflips, Shikamaru smiled at the blond's actions. As he evaded, disappearing behind a mound of sand, the Nara was already working on step two of his strategy. He quickly hurled a handful of kunai towards the blond, expecting him to deflect each attack. Like he expected, and more, Naruto deflected a great deal of the projectiles but even grabbed a pair. The Uzumaki quickly slapped an explosive tag on the two kunai and sent them back to their owner.
I've never seen the shadow possession resisted like that… Shikamaru stared at the Uzumaki. I need to watch myself and when I can, I need to ask father about this…
Now, Shikamaru had a thought to consider a response like that, but of course, a part of him doubted the boy had the energy to do such a thing in the first place. Naruto had fought two of the projected, strongest genin most have seen in a long time. The Uzumaki used both tactics and skill, thinking steps ahead of his opponent and even used low leveled ninjutsu in conjunction to revamp the damage to levels substantially higher. Needless to say, Shikamaru expected him, even someone like Naruto, to be exhausted. At least close to exhaustion…if not, the Nara should seriously consider surrendering for the sake of not dying in a tournament. It was evident in the way Naruto fought now; even comrades like Neji were targets to get their asses beat with kill shots. He sprang to his feet, deflecting the explosive kunai and quickly displaced before he was turned into a steaming pile of flesh and blood.
A pair of explosions ripped through the terrain, spreading sand and smoke in all directions giving the Nara enough time to escape in the chaos. Around him, the Uzumaki was thinking along the same lines. Shikamaru was right though; Naruto was indeed getting tired; having used the Orb of Deception as much as he did and the way he did, drove his chakra levels to dangerous lows. Channeling and forcing wind chakra to aid his spiraling bullets, also put a strain on his chakra but he won his fights at least. Now with Shikamaru, he had to admit, the Nara got it easy. Under the cover of great plumes of smoke, the Uzumaki began to wipe the blood from his arm, most of which had already dried into flakes. He sighed, running his arms against his clothes trying to remove the flakes as quickly as possible.
Shikamaru trusted Naruto with a lot, sure he never says it explicitly, but to him Naruto was a close friend and someone he would give his life for. Even with his faith in his friend, that trust had been shaken after the events of his fight with Gaara. It only seemed that as time progressed in these fights, Naruto would reveal an attack stronger than the last and this time, he almost killed another genin. What made it all worse, though, Gaara almost killed another genin as well! Shikamaru frowned, examining Naruto's movements beyond the resting smoke, relieved the Uzumaki had taken to the sand and flickering fires. Naruto in all respects, should have killed Gaara with an attack of that magnitude. If it were any other genin or shinobi, he or she would have been killed on the spot. Something else was afoot and he needed to get to the bottom of it. Turning his thoughts back to the fight, lucky him, the shadows he surrounded himself in captured a small team of shadow clones; almost seven in total.
He could hear people gasping in the crowds and the stands. Ino was surprisingly silent, making the Nara laugh to himself. Channeling chakra to the shadows, a series of spears launched from the great circle. Each clone popped and disappeared in a small cloud of smoke before dissipating. Naruto was definitely getting tired. Shikamaru stayed where he was, keeping to the hole behind him and the fires creating shadows for him to manipulate. All of this gave him precious time to think. His eyes trailed up to the rooftop of the stands, finding what looked like ANBU operatives standing watch. Across the way, Suna shinobi were in awe, almost uncomfortable and tense. Slowly, his eyes trailed up to the Kage box, finding the two Kage talking amongst themselves, discussing probable promotions at best guess.
Once more, a team of clones rushed at Shikamaru. This time, whenever one got caught in the shadow, another would come along and use the trapped clone as a springboard. With the shadows born of Naruto's fire attacks and the gaping hole remaining from Shino's bugs, Shikamaru was conserving chakra at a rate that left him rather fresh. Naruto on the other hand, was running in circles, sending attacks and prodded at the Nara's defense. It wasn't useless at all, but slightly annoying in the Nara's opinion. While the shadow possession captured human targets, it couldn't capture targets that were airborne. Every time a kunai would fly his way, he had little to no choice but to evade and escape the projectiles, the same went for clones that caught on to his weakness.
"Damn it." He chided. "Whoever thought it was a good idea to teach Naruto how to think, is an asshole."
He ducked, shooting his head forward, dodging a rock. "The biggest fucking asshole."
Rolling forward, he grabbed the embedded shuriken and kunai hidden the sand and responded in turn with his own assault. Drawing a kunai from the sand, he deflected a barrage a shuriken just in time. Before he had time to reposition, the damned Uzumaki rushed in like lightning, bringing his knee up. The collision was titanic. Shikamaru could have sworn he felt a few ribs break from the impact alone. As he flew back, Naruto fell into a stance and jabbed forward, forcing his fist into his lazy friend's chest. Again, Naruto launched his left hand forward digging his fist into the Nara's gut, knocking the air and the wits from his body.
But just as Naruto reared for another attack, he froze, blue eyes wide with sudden surprise. It was but a split second, but it was long enough for Shikamaru to notice. As he prepared to attack, Naruto's fist began to shake slightly, but otherwise, stayed stable. Shikamaru dodged the fist and sent his own, hitting Naruto with a punch that could have definitely been better. The hit barely registered to the blond and before Shika knew it, a knee found its way into his stomach. The Nara groaned against the counter attack, feeling his breakfast and dinner from the night before crawl up his throat. Naruto quickly grabbed his arm and twisted him around, shoving his foot into the fellow genin.
Instead of a roar or a cry of agonizing pain, the pineapple haired shinobi exploded into smoke. Crowds cried out in surprise, yelling at the show. Naruto glared shaking his right hand once more, feeling a cold sensation burn at his flesh. Strange, Naruto thought. Shutting his eyes for barely a second, Gaara's face flashed into his mind practically numbing his right arm on the spot. He dropped to the ground sensing a kunai and shuriken barrage heading his direction. Leave it to Shikamaru to decide when he wants to get serious. As projectiles flew above him, the Uzumaki sighed in relief, finding the new ammunition. Rolling in the sand, he threw his hand out, wrapping his fingers around the bandaged handles in preparation to retaliate.
Hidden by large hills of sand, the blond took this chance to finally surveil his target. The kunai and shuriken came from the trees, but I sure as hell can't tell where. I want to use Shadow Clones, but I've already exceeded my planned amount of clones in this fight. I don't want to become reliant on those buggers especially with how practically unfair they are.
Suddenly, a great searing heat roared through his blood covered forearm. Doing his best to shake it off, the Uzumaki turned to face the many possible sites. Shikamaru was hiding in the trees and was using all of this to his advantage. Naruto was visibly down on chakra and energy and was already confirmed to be running dry of kunai and shuriken. He was frantic in search of more ammunition, if his desperate expression directed at kunai and shuriken was to be taken into consideration. To Shikamaru, every strange development in Naruto's actions was reasonable enough to become information to use. And given Naruto's last two performances, he'll need all the information he could gather from the Uzumaki.
Naruto dropped the kunai from his hand and immediately resigned to taking off old fashioned. Jumping over fires and piles of sand, he left little to the eye to see. Like a burning flash, or a yellow flash, the boy burst through the foliage of the first set of trees and shrubs lying at the base. Finding his search fruitless, he turned his attention to the next set, with a patch of trees and shrubbery in each quadrant of the arena floor. Despite the clones having dispelled during his last fight, he had the layout and image of each rock, nook and cranny burned into his mind. Shikamaru could hide all he wanted, in the end, Naruto was definitely going to find his lazy ass and beat him to a pulp.
In the stands, people watched in awe, still amazed at the show of skill these two shinobi possessed. But there was one that stared with a rather intense eye. Naruto was showing signs of weakness and he was beginning to lose his edge. The longer the fight drew out, the Uzumaki would more than likely pass out or even weaken himself to the point of no going back. Now that wouldn't bode too well with the plans in place. Taking in the fight from another perspective, the blond's situation looked just as bleak as before. He was conserving his chakra, if the lack of ninjutsu was an indication of any kind. He fumbled through the sand, digging for weapons and projectiles and while he managed to get a few, it still wasn't enough.
Naruto knew the layout of the arena judging by the shadow clones that he constantly used. Since the grand massacre of clones due to Shikamaru's great shadow possession, the blond deigned from making clones, even until now. His performances have been exquisite, and to Orochimaru, it was almost akin to a five-course dinner. Such untapped potential and raw, unadulterated power. Lucky for Naruto, plans were in place that required his victory. The man watched apprehensively as Naruto continued to shy away from using his ninjutsu combinations. As it was, the blond genin resigned to speed and heavy hitting; if he could even reach his opponent.
Even with the blond's newfound skills, his sensing and perception were still lacking. Shikamaru would move away from his patch of green for a new one every time Naruto would trip a trap or burst through the shrubbery. At least, in a way, Naruto was helping himself out. The Nara had little to no time to come up with a new strategy, given the Uzumaki's constant assault. He displaced before a viable strategy could be born. Up in the stands, the entire fight had fallen to a game of cat and mouse with small strategies and small assaults that seemed rather unimportant.
Kunai shot through the trees towards the blond lost in the center of his own fire. Like every time before, he'd dodge and catch a few mid-air and hurl them back towards the direction they came, but the man caught something different. As his right arm turned to hurl his kunai, the hand shook, changing the trajectory and speed the knife would go. It wobbled and fell just a few meters away from him. He gasped in disappointment with a dash of disgust. Shaking his hand once more, Naruto was doing a terrible job at hiding his new disability.
Orochimaru, or the Kazekage in disguise, frowned at the events. Something happened to the growing star of his attention. He even kept his mouth shut for Sasuke's disqualification to see the Uzumaki beat down the rest of the competition. With such power at the blond's disposal, he wanted to use him as well for his experiments and maybe even for the sole sake of learning every technique, use the blond as a jutsu machine. If his original reports before and during the exams, Naruto showed knowledge of only one ninjutsu technique, a brawler style of fighting, no genjutsu to speak of and his ability for tactics didn't go farther than on the fly.
Now, seeing the blond beat down a Hyuuga, plunge his hand through a partially transformed Jinchuriki and keep a Nara on his toes, Orochimaru was convinced that he made a slight oversight in choosing his next plaything. He frowned beneath his mask; something about the twitching arm needs to be fixed though if the blond was to be of any use to him. He could only begin to decipher what's causing it. At best case scenario, he suffers from what the foolish Tsunade was suffering from. At worst case scenario, it was just the beginning of the end for the blond's mental state and he would end up in a mental ward. Either way, Orochimaru knew the blond would be instrumental in his quest and he needed said blond to be at full, one-hundred-percent capability.
Leaning into his seat he gave a look over at Hiruzen. "It seems Naruto is slacking."
"He's only tired." The Third Hokage smiled. "After all, he fought two powerful genin; and I'm not even bringing up the fact that one of them even became a partially transformed Jinchuriki. Mind explaining that one to me, Kazekage-dono?"
"My son is capable." Orochimaru continued the façade. "I never expected him to transform here."
"If I were you; I'd check up on him." Hiruzen's stern glare fell into a pair of eye-smiles. "After all, he is your son."
Naruto landed into the field of fire, dodging speeding shadow spears and spikes rushing at his back. He rolled about the sand, doing what he could to slow the speeding shadow but nothing would work. The crowds in the stands were on their feet, roaring and screaming for either boy. If Naruto was caught in the shadow, it was over; if Shikamaru dared to step free from the shade, it was over. As the Uzumaki had found, the Nara had a set range based off of how much shadow there was. He could scale up to about halfway through the arena floor before needing to reposition.
Naruto would have to a moron to even think about stepping into the shadows directly across from him on the other side of the arena. Shadows were connected, especially if a Nara was in control of them. If his shadow, not even his clothing or body; if his shadow barely touches the shade of the arena walls or the trees; it was all over for him. He watched his shadow and the different holes in the arena floor. He kept his distance from fire and the walls, but there was only so much land he could use to evade.
"Hey Naruto." Ahri piped. "Remember the charm ability; don't work hard, work smart."
But I'm not going to blow kisses at another guy! Naruto replied with a scowl. And last I checked, if I didn't want to blow kisses, I'd have to get within a meter of him. My control of the ability is absolute garbage.
"Because you don't want to do things my way." Ahri huffed. "Maybe you could throw the Orb of Deception?"
Same thing; I need to get within a meter of him.
"Fox Fire seems to be your only choice at this point." The Gumiho frowned. "I'll give you some chakra but don't shove your arm into Shikamaru."
Tch. Don't joke around with that. Naruto glared at the woman.
Jumping back into the fight, with the new amount of chakra, blood red orbs of fire exploded from his torso. Unlike before, various older shinobi and older civilians gasped at the color, immediately reminded of the Kyuubi attack fourteen years ago. Naruto dodged great spears of shadow and even the snaking shadow possession rushing at him from behind. Thankfully, the orbs of fire killed his shadow against the ground. The faster they spun the less shadow he projected.
Speeding towards the tree line, the three orbs shot outwards, embracing the foliage with great light and fire. From the corner of his eye, he could see Shikamaru using his jacket as a pulley, zip-lining across the arena. Naruto's eyes grew as wide as plates; Shikamaru wasn't aiming for him when he'd throw kunai! He was creating escape routes using kunai and ninja wire! The Uzumaki glared at the boy sliding along. Channeling chakra, he sped forward trying to catch up to the elusive Nara.
As the blood red fires engulfed the tree line killing the shade, Naruto finally caught sight of just how complex the system of ninja wire actually was. They crisscrossed and weaved between one another, while still giving the façade of empty sky. Shikamaru's strategy was so profound, it left Naruto standing there with a blank expression on his face. Naruto couldn't even see the ninja wire unless he concentrated long enough on a specific area. The Hokage and Kazekage, who'd just returned to the box, looked in awe. Civilians cried out in surprise and Daimyo whispered amongst themselves, shaking excitedly in their seats.
As Shikamaru slid along, he threw kunai and repositioned himself for another strike of long-ranged protracted combat. Thankfully, Naruto's amazing strategy of using paper-bombs was finally going to return to bite him in the ass. After all, he wasn't the only one with access to paper-bombs. As Naruto caught the incoming kunai, he tossed them away with a squeal and even did his best to throw some back. Each explosion was tiny compared to the ones Naruto caused, but it did its job of displacing him and giving him a taste of his own medicine. The battle continued with Naruto rushing along trying to find himself a kunai to cut Shikamaru down with.
Creating a pair of shadow clones, he sent them off to deal with the Nara. In the midst of their triple brawl; Naruto went to the dirt, sliding against the sand and the piles of dirt. He eyed the scene before him. The arena was huge and somehow, after just a series of fights; they'd managed to destroy almost the entire arena floor, tearing it asunder. Fires, giant holes, piles of dirt and piles of sand. What else was in store for the chunin exams now?
"Well…" Ahri piped once again. "You said, and I quote 'Be careful, Ahri. Saying such heresy could bring destruction to the village! If I actually get the chance to fight Shikamaru, I promise you, the village will go up in flames.' Oh wow, look what's happening!"
I was joking. Naruto glared at the woman.
"But hey, you said something about the village going up in flames." Ahri threw up her hands in defense. "You know what they say right?"
Who is they? Naruto gave her an incredulous look. And no, I don't.
"They is a general term, Byeong-shin." Ahri rolled her eyes. "Be careful what you say, for it might just come true!"
So by that logic, if I continue screaming that I want to be Hokage, it'll happen eventually? Naruto gave her a look.
"Well…with the power and strength you showed here today; I wouldn't be surprised if you did become Hokage in the future." Ahri smirked.
AW YES!
"Hey! Hey!" Ahri shouted. "The same applies to the opposite. Now get your ass into gear and beat Shikamaru already! It seems your pre-tournament feelings has some truth…I have a bad feeling about all of this…"
Oh. I didn't know fighting Shikamaru would send the world to hell. Naruto laughed softly as his hands wrapped around the handles of the various kunai hidden within the sand. Rolling about, he created a small cloud to cover his movements. I'm surprised though…
"What do you mean?" Ahri gave him a raised brow.
Shikamaru is actually trying!
In the stands, Orochimaru's eyes trailed left and right, anticipation burning in his legs and arms. Even with Naruto's abilities and newfound strength, the Sannin needed a bit more to go on. If somehow the Uzumaki had enough power to defeat his trump card, then maybe, just maybe, he could find enough reason to alter his plans.
Naruto retaliated after his clones were defeated, rushing towards the shadows again. Without a flash of hand seals, blood red orbs of fire surrounded him, rushing and orbiting with speed unlike before. He jumped over piles of dirt and sand, sending the orbs out towards the base of the arena floor. As he ran, the Nara responded with at least two spiraling spears of shadow. The first spear tore through the first mote of fire, dispersing it in every direction. Great and bright, the fires wrapped around the shadow spear. Orochimaru narrowed his eyes at the sight. It would seem that Shikamaru was beginning to lose chakra, weakening the strength of his shadow spears.
It was clear that the fight was beginning to fall into Naruto's hands and there would be no special strategy or some crazy scheme that the Nara could pull. Shikamaru had lost the fight the moment Naruto broke free from his shadow possession technique. The Uzumaki was known and witnessed to be a powerhouse of strength, agility and had the greatest stamina anyone had ever seen, much less Orochimaru. It infuriated him and at the same time, excited him. The great battles that would come in Naruto's future would only solidify the blond's enticement and…deliciousness.
Beneath his mask, Orochimaru licked his lips in anticipation. Naruto found Shikamaru in the arena and met the boy in a bout of taijutsu. Kicking and punching, the two were obviously low on energy. Shikamaru's blocks were below average and Naruto's punches were beginning to slow down to a manageable pace. He kicked through the Nara's defense, sending him flying a few feet. Before Shika could reposition and gather his bearings, Naruto appeared, lodging his knee into the boy's chest, knocking the wind from his lungs.
As Shikamaru backed away, Naruto flipped over, bringing his foot around for a three-sixty kick. The attack connected bashing against the Nara's scalp, knocking dirt and sand from his rustled hair. Orochimaru's eyes narrowed, examining the taijutsu style. He hasn't seen a kick like that before. Continuing his gaze, Naruto followed up with a barrage of heavy punches, knocking dust from Shikamaru's shinobi mesh shirt in great plumes. Each hit sounded like a hammer hitting concrete. The Nara tried his best to concede but the barrage was too much, forcing him back on his steps. He would be damned though if he dared to fall down now.
The Sannin suddenly felt relieved and the excitement had only grown. The anger and the hatred was in Naruto's movements. The power that he held, he was keeping chained and boxed. It was shown in how he handled his lazy comrade. If those punches were like the attacks he used on Neji or Gaara, Shikamaru would have died immediately. But Naruto was holding back, keeping his emotions reined. After all, it would be a shame if he killed a clan heir.
It is only a matter of time…
Naruto dodged between the punches and the kicks, finding most of them mediocre and lacking in form. Of course, Shikamaru must really be overexerting himself at this point. He figured it was time to end the fight. Without another thought, the Uzumaki burst forward tackling the Nara into the dirt. The first punch was dodged but the second bashed him in his eye. Shikamaru retaliated with an elbow to Naruto's jaw, knocking him off. Naruto rolled away, dodging Shikamaru's incoming shadow.
He jumped, he weaved and he even back flipped, garnering a few gasps at his agility from the crowds. As he backed from the Nara, his hands had grabbed kunai and shuriken from the piles of sand. Once he landed on his feet and just outside the maximum range of Shikamaru's shadow possession, he let loose, firing off a precision barrage of projectiles.
Too little too late, Shikamaru was grazed and even felt a shuriken embed into his shoulder as he tried to dodge. Naruto popped his neck feeling the last of Ahri's supplementary chakra disappear. She sighed and shrugged her shoulders leaving Naruto to his final attack.
"Shikamaru, this ends now!"
"Kage Mane no Jutsu!"
Before the Uzumaki could strike, he froze in his tracks. His eyes were wide and for a moment, he was truly terrified. Using every ounce of strength he had, his eyes trailed over trying to see where Shikamaru's shadow could have come from. He pulled against the vice-like grip the Nara had on him. Ahri laughed heartily annoying Naruto to no end. The boy pulled against the grip wrapped around his torso. Eyes scanned the arena, finding no holes or fires to birth shadow. What made matters worse, he firmly believed he was outside of Shikamaru's range!
"N-Naruto…" Shikamaru spoke up, silencing the raving crowds. "You forgot the ninja wire…it doesn't matter how small or how thin an object is; shadow will always be cast…with the amount of wire I used it was a surprise that you didn't think about destroying my zip-lines."
"You've gotta be kidding me." Naruto gasped. Blue eyes examined the blackened eye of Shikamaru and the bruised cheeks and arms; what really made the Uzumaki shiver in fear, the shuriken embedded almost an inch into Shikamaru's shoulder. "S-So what happens now?"
The Nara raised his hand, forcing Naruto to do the same. "One of us has to surrender at this point."
Of course, practically everyone in Konoha had to be right handed, him included. Naruto's blood flaked arm still held a deep red tinge to it, holding on to the color. As it rose, it began to shake, jittering beneath a cold breeze. While to most it looked like Naruto was beginning to break free, to Shika it meant something else entirely. To him, it was the answer he was looking for, but how he got it, wasn't exactly his plan. The longer he held his arm high, he could see the pain in Naruto's eyes, radiating and glowing with an ethereal glimmer. It was terrifying.
"Damn it…" Shikamaru frowned. "Proctor! I surrender!"
Releasing the shadow possession, Naruto's arm fell free and he immediately clasped his shaking hand. "What the hell, Shika?!"
"I am low on chakra…" the Nara responded with a raised brow. "I could already feel you breaking out of my shadow possession again…I don't know about you, but to continue fighting you is suicide. Taijutsu is not my strong point and I know for a fact, if you were to close distance with me again, it would be over for me. In a way, this was my last ditch effort and I caught you. A shame really…I don't have enough chakra to really beat you."
The proctor arrived the instant the call for surrender was heard. When he looked at the two genin, he gave the two a smirk and raised a red flag dictating Naruto as the victor of the tournament. Shikamaru collapsed to the floor, holding his chest, gaining a worried look from Naruto. The blond rushed over to the Nara, yanking the shuriken from his deltoid, eliciting a teeth gritted groan. Black eyes glared menacingly at Naruto but quickly relieved into a soft yet pained eye smile.
"Good job, Naruto." Shika sighed softly. "Asuma-sensei, Jiraiya-sama…those two really knocked your ass into gear, didn't they?"
"You're goddamn right about that." Naruto laughed. "C'mon bud…let's get you to the medics…by the way…I'm really sorry if I got rough with you."
"Don't worry about it." Shikamaru waved him off. "We were in the middle of a fight and I did my best to actually try this time."
"Which brings me to what I wanted to say." Naruto clapped the Nara on his back, eliciting a powerful shout of pain. "You surprised me! Because of how much you wanted to prove yourself and not be lazy I lost a bet I made with someone! Now I have to get rid of the orange in my outfits and I can never have ramen again!"
"You bet I would surrender?" Shika deadpanned.
Naruto deadpanned back. "You weren't going to surrender?"
"Point made." The Nara laughed. "The village will go up in flames before I choose to get rid of my laziness."
"Hey!" Naruto said with wide eyes. "You know what they say! Watch what you say, man! It might come true!"
Ahri glared at him. "Now you're going to steal things I've told you?"
Last I checked you can't copyright phrases. Naruto stuck his tongue at the Gumiho.
Shikamaru rolled his eyes. "It's just a figure of speech -"
But before he could finish his sentence, a great explosion shook the clinic and the concrete walls. Dust and pebbles fell from the ceiling and trickled off their shoulders. Screams could be heard echoing from down the hallway.
The two looked at one another, sweat as cold as ice and eyes as wide as plates.
Oh fuck.
To be continued…
Yeah! To explain how Shikamaru managed to last that long
put this into perspective.
Naruto just finished fighting Gaara, and used a shitton of chakra trying to fight him
if the imagery of last chapter wasn't obvious of that fact
Shikamaru had a whole fight to channel and wait and prepare
I mean there was a reason I had most of last chapter's fight also in Shikamaru's POV
he was eyeing the opposition
so he was prepared for Naruto's shit, well for most of it
Either way! Review, Favorite and Follow! Get this fanfic famous guys!
Ja ne!
gottahavekyuubi
