AN: Alright, well guess what the page count is now? I have passed 400 with this chapter. Excited? I am! Anyway, enjoy! And I have a little challenge for everyone. Count how many movie or TV references I put in, and say which. I put in several, some should make some of you laugh if you've seen it.
And to Thomas Drovin, Sorry, they aren't coming yet. I have something for them, afterwards. Remember, Hidan is in little bits. They have to sew him up before anything interesting with them.
And to Dantesfreezer, Haha, um, to tell the truth. The girl who I based Ronni on is that ditzy. . And what mental imagery? You mean Sasuke and Lynne?
And to Me and Gaara 4eva, OMG! You say "Oh Snap" too?
And to Gaaras1Girl, Uhm, yeah, that is a little weird. I told my Mom and my sis what you told me in your review, and they were wierded out too. Well, all I can say is I didn't plan that, but it's interesting. . Congrats, I guess?
And to Azura Soul Reaver, Yeah, they're cute. I'm glad I got to put it up early.
And to Riss737, I'm glad you like this so much. Um, so far, Naruto, Gaara, Sasuke, Shikamaru, Kiba, and all of them are 22. Temari is 25, Kankuro is 24. Rox, Lynne, and Fred are 21. And Ronni and Cordi are 20. In part one, just subtract two years. And Yukina is almost 2.
And to Perminatly Lost in Thought, God, was it that obvious? Yes she is, but I decided to be like the anime. You know how they always say "that," like they always say "He's using that jutsu." Or "It was on that day." If you've never noticed it, watch it and read the comics, it's always there.
I wanna thank the newbie favoriter. Moka-Girl, thanks and welcome to the family!
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or its characters etc. You know the drill. Oh, and Kirigi, Saito, belong to Thomas Drovin, which I'm very grateful he's letting me use. Although, I did take some creative liberties with Saito, Thomas. Thanks a bunch!!!
Chapter Ten: Jounin Exams Begin
For Naruto the morning couldn't come too soon. As he predicted, the information Hinata blessed him with the night before had kept him up all night. So much so that after she went to sleep, he sat on the sofa in their living room contemplating it thoroughly. As soon as he heard the birds chirping, greeting the rising sun, he donned his Hokage robes and rummaged through his closet for his Hokage hat. He saw Hinata wake up, but she didn't get out of bed. She explained she wasn't feeling well and to tell him how everything in the tournament went. He felt bad that he was leaving her behind because he had to go watch his ninjas fight. He fetched a glass of water for her and gave her a kiss goodbye.
"I love you," he told her softly.
She smiled softly at him and said, "Love you, too." He gave her a small smile, then left, slowly walking to the battle arena, the same one used for the finals in the chuunin exams. The entire walk gave him more time to ponder what he was pondering all night. He was very grateful to get to the Kage's box and see Gaara was already there. Naruto sat down next to the Kazekage. It was rather odd to see Gaara in the Kazekage's traditional blue and white robes.
As soon as Naruto sat down, his shoulders slumped and he let out a relieved sigh. "You look tired," Gaara stated, eyeing his first friend warily. "Rough night?"
"Oh," Naruto croaked, placing his face in his hands, massaging it awake, "you have no idea."
"What happened?" Gaara asked, figuring Naruto had gone out for drinks or something and had a little too much.
Naruto paused for a minute, building suspense for Gaara, before replying, "Hinata's pregnant."
Gaara's eyes went wide. In all his years of knowing Naruto Uzumaki, Gaara had never – that's never – been able to see Naruto as a dad. "Really?" Gaara chuckled, not really seeing the possibility of the scenario.
"Yeah," Naruto replied. "I know. It's a little …"
"Inconceivable?" Gaara offered.
Naruto paused a little bit, thinking about the word choice. "Technically," he laughed, "it was conceivable." It was silent for a moment before Naruto added, "Sorry. That was a poor excuse of a joke." Gaara nodded in agreement, not looking at the blond, thinking about his friend as a parent. Honestly, Gaara didn't think Naruto was cut out for it.
Then again, he didn't think Naruto was cut out to fight him when they were twelve either, and look what happened. It was the most interesting fight he had ever been in. No one had ever thought of striking him in the ass except Naruto, and with a bomb nonetheless. And it was that fight that changed his life for the better, something everyone thought impossible. Now that Gaara thought about it, Naruto could probably do anything he set his mind to – why should parenting be any different?
Granted, Naruto was rather immature, even to this day, he seemed to have retained some of his childish personality. But maybe that would be the quality that would make him be a great parent. Gaara's own father had lost contact with his inner child. Even Temari and Kankuro agreed he wasn't very capable at connecting with them as children. And Kankuro was still rather childish at times, and he seemed to be doing great handling Yukina. So maybe Naruto's slight immaturity would be his saving grace, but Gaara honestly had no idea.
"Congratulations, I guess," Gaara stated, not really knowing what to say to his friend in that situation. Naruto just nodded silently. "Well," Gaara laughed, "that's another thing you've done before I have."
Naruto raised an eyebrow at him. "Is the council still pestering you about finding a Kougou?"
"Yes," he sighed.
"I don't get it. Why do they want you to find a wife so quickly?" Naruto asked. "Wouldn't that tie you down or something?"
Gaara let out a harsh bark. "I think that's why. The council in Suna seems to be rather family based. They like the Kages to – to be somewhat settled down."
"But wasn't your father a bachelor for the longest time?" Naruto asked, knowing he was treading on thin ice with that subject.
"Widowers aren't considered bachelors to the council. They can't force the Kazekage to marry again," Gaara answered through pursed lips. Naruto just looked at him silently, understanding him a bit more. "But their main reason is to make sure I'm stable," Gaara continued. "Most of the council isn't too worried about me turning on them, but some are. They think a wife and a family will make me more – secure, I guess."
Naruto frowned and said, "I'm not entirely sure how that would work." Gaara faced him, eyes narrowed. He silently pointed to his scar to remind Naruto why he was considered unstable in the first place. "Oh, right," Naruto sighed, reminding himself about Gaara's childhood.
"Yeah," Gaara replied, thinking the topic was over.
"So," Naruto sighed, "When you gonna ask her?" Gaara shot him a confused look. He had no idea what he was talking about. "Oh, come on!" Naruto scoffed. "You're dating Cordi, and the Council is pressuring you to marry someone. That's simple math even I can do."
Gaara scowled at him. "They've been pressuring me to get married since I turned eighteen and became legal. And that would include the time I was dating Matsuri," he replied coldly. "I didn't get married to her, did I?"
Naruto pursed his lips, licking them a little before saying, "Good point, but it's different." Gaara rose a would-be eyebrow at him, as if to ask "How so?" Naruto smirked at him and stated, "I know for a fact that if you don't get married or engaged by your twenty-third birthday, the Suna council will arrange one for you." Gaara gaped at him. There was no way Naruto could know about that, not that Gaara could think of. "And that's in two months," Naruto snickered, waggling two fingers.
"Where did you hear this?" Gaara asked dangerously. He wasn't too mad by the fact Naruto knew, he just didn't like being reminded of his Kazekage conditions.
"I have my sources," Naruto grinned.
"Temari, then," Gaara guessed. She would be the only one with a reason to talk to Naruto and be well within her rights to tell Naruto such information about her brother.
Naruto pouted at Gaara. "How did you know?" he inquired.
"Come on, Naruto. It doesn't take a genius to figure that one out," Gaara stated, not looking at him. Naruto still just glared at him. Gaara was starting to feel a little uneasy with Naruto's burning glare. "What?"
"You never answered my question," Naruto stated.
Gaara frowned at him. He understood why Naruto was asking. Cordi was Gaara's last chance at control of his life. If he didn't ask her before his birthday, he was going to be engaged to some random girl from his village, probably a fan-girl. Gaara bit his tongue. He honestly quite liked his bachelor lifestyle. It was true, he did like her a lot. There was definitely chemistry between them, but he wasn't sure those feelings would grow to love by the time he needed them. He definitely didn't want to rush into a marriage half-cocked, finding someone else later but not able to be with them. And Cordi was a loyal friend, and he'd seen that. If everything turned sour, he didn't want to lose their friendship too. To tell the truth, he was pretty sure he just wasn't ready to get married yet. But it was an irrevocable requirement on the contract he had to sign to become Kazekage. And the council had already warned him that they had someone chosen for him already if he doesn't chose for himself.
He pinched the bridge of his nose. "I don't know. But if things work out, within those two months," he answered.
Naruto pursed his lips, not sure he liked the sound of Gaara's answer. "Well, don't be too late, because if you get stuck with the wrong woman …" Naruto just let out a half whistle half sigh. "I pity you in your predicament," he added.
Gaara shot him a glance. "I pity you in yours," he replied nonchalantly.
"You can mold a child's mind, not a grown woman's," Naruto stated, fairly saying, he won that little pity-fest. Gaara bit his lip. Naruto was right. If Gaara ended up getting set with a girl who needed him by her side every second of every day, he would definitely go nuts. "By the way, where is Cordi?"
"She went to check in," Gaara stated. "She's in the second fight, so we'll see her soon anyhow." Naruto nodded excitedly, looking down to the field.
Gaara may not have known how perceptive Naruto really was. Naruto could tell by the way his best friend reacted to his questioning about Gaara's relationship with Cordi. He knew Gaara wouldn't have hesitated his answer if Cordi meant nothing to him. The length of his pause told Naruto everything about Gaara's feelings for her, even though, he probably didn't know them himself. It was understandable. Gaara had been betrayed so many times, and Matsuri had done a real number on him, though he wouldn't admit it. Naruto knew as soon as Cordi proved herself to be the right choice for Gaara, he would ask her to marry him in a heartbeat. Silently, Naruto prayed that she would do so before their time was up.
Fred sighed nervously, sitting with all the other competitors in the tournament. Her fight was first, and she was up against some guy from the Grass. She had no idea what his powers were, so she couldn't plan out a strategy. Rox noticed her uneasiness and placed a hand on her shoulder. "It'll be alright," she reassured, hoping it would be enough. Fred nodded nervously, knowing Rox was just trying to be helpful.
"Will the opponents for the first match come down to the field," the announcer ordered.
Rox gave her a small smile and requested, "Kick ass!" Fred nervously nodded and walked over to the railing, keeping her face set determinedly. She looked back at her friends, waving nervously to them, before swinging her body over the railing, falling through the air before landing graciously on her feet. The Grass ninja was already there, waiting for her to get down so the battle could start.
"Begin," the announcer stated, stepping back so as not to get in their way.
They stood there silently, neither moving, slowly assessing the other. The Grass ninja had a sword strapped to his back, so Fred figured he was a weapons specialist. He had his brown hair tied down with a doo-rag. His dark brown eyes glared into Fred's green ones. His tan hands slowly lifted, pulling the sword out of its sheath.
"If you won't go, then I will," he snapped. Fred smirked. He hadn't realized this fight was already mostly over. Suddenly, he dropped his sword, scratching his suddenly itchy sensation in his exposed shins. He then looked down and he was standing in steadily growing bushes of shiny leaves. "WHAT THE HELL IS THIS!?!?" he yelled.
"Leaves of three, let them be," Fred recited, pointing to the bushes, still growing before their eyes. "Poison Ivy, usually it takes a day for the spores to activate on human skin, but I altered it to react instantaneously." Fred then let out a wide grin. It was still growing, reaching the ninja's hips, but since he was hunched over scratching, he had his face in the thick of it. He yelped and jumped out as fast as he could, abandoning his sword to the poison shrub. She held up a hand and said, "By the way, don't touch me."
He didn't hear her though. He was too busy scratching his reddened and puffy skin. And, boy was he cursing up a storm. Fred could have sworn she knew all the curses known to man, but listening to him ranting at his spore covered skin, she was learning all new and interesting ones. She began to retract the poison ivy back into the ground, knowing Cordi would pitch a fit if she didn't. When the spores near his eyes began to react, she looked to the announcer and stated, "If you don't call it now and take him to the hospital, he'll could go blind." The announcer looked at her then nodded.
"The winner is Winnifred Butler," he stated, ushering the Grass ninja in the direction of the exit, being careful not to touch him. Fred grew a tree underneath her, so she could get back in the fighters' box. As soon as she jumped inside, greeting her friends smiling faces, she let the tree shrink back into its roots.
"Look at the Tsuchikage," Ronni giggled. "He looks like he's about to pitch a fit." They all looked up to the Kages' box and saw the short old man slowly turning redder and redder with a glare on his face.
Lynne looked around at the other competitors and laughed, "That's why. That ninja was his only one." They all looked around then laughed, watching the Tsuchikage get up and stomp away from the other Kages, Naruto obviously laughing because his shoulders were shaking.
As soon as the announcer got back, he called out, "The next opponents to the ring please!"
Cordi smiled over her shoulder to her friends and said, "Wish me luck!" They all gave her a thumbs up and encouraging smiles, before she too launched herself over the railing and into the arena. Cordi looked up to face her opponent. It was another woman, a year or so younger than Cordi, though. She was from the Village in the Mist. From first look, she looked as if she didn't do anything special, but Cordi tossed that thought aside. If she didn't do anything special, then she wouldn't be nominated to become a Jounin, duh, Cordi thought to herself.
"Begin!" the announcer called out.
The other girl, jumped out with lightning speed, whipping a kunai out of her pouch in a fluid motion. She slashed out at Cordi, forcing Cordi to jump back in avoidance of getting cut along her cheek. Instead, the kunai cut through some of her hair, which had been pulled back in a loose ponytail. Cordi didn't really notice until she saw she suddenly had bangs forming in her face. Cordi jumped back to a safe area away from the Mist ninja. Slowly, she ran a hand through her new bangs, and became infused with a red hot rage.
"YOU CUT MY HAIR!!!!" She screeched. The Mist ninja just smirked. She figured she could beat someone blinded by rage. Her smirk faltered when she saw Cordi forming a ball of fire in her hand. As fast as the Mist ninja was, Cordi pegged the ball at her with incredible speed. She couldn't dodge. She instead used a water style jutsu to extinguish the fire hurtling towards her. As soon as she did, she was shocked to see Cordi sprinting right behind it, landing a right hook in the Mist ninja's jaw. She was knocked back, flying a couple feet at the force of the punch.
She tried to get up, but Cordi quickly pounded her down again with another punch to the face. She couldn't defend herself as Cordi landed another punch in her face. "NO ONE TOUCHES MY HAIR!!!!!" Cordi screeched, with another punch, this one surrounded by flames and landed in her stomach. "DO YOU KNOW HOW LONG IT WILL TAKE TO FIX WHAT YOU'VE DONE!?!?!?!" Cordi screeched, landing another three punches and a slap. Cordi, let her breath for a bit, jumping back trying to calm down. Her face was red with fury and her eyes were twitching crazily. She was breathing heavily in an attempt to catch what little air she had from her adrenaline rush.
The Mist ninja slowly got up, holding her abdomen and coughing up some blood. She wiped her mouth, smearing blood on her cheek. Her cheek had a slowly swelling red hand mark from Cordi's slap. She moved her hand away from her abs to show burns from Cordi's punch. "Nice punch," she half laughed, half coughed. She reached into her pouch for two more kunai, as she said, "my turn." She quickly threw them at Cordi, which she dodged, only to find that the Mist girl caught he by both wrists behind her back holding a kunai to her neck. "Now what?" the Mist ninja laughed.
Cordi frowned. Alright, time for a plan. Objective one, get out of her grasp, Cordi thought to herself. She smiled and said, "This!" She locked her jaw as she thrust her head back, hitting her opponent's nose, rendering her shocked for a minute, letting Cordi rip one of her wrist out of her grasp, and grabbing the other ninja's wrist before spinning around and twisting it up painfully. Cordi wound her other hand around, resting her elbow on the back of the Mist ninja's neck and holding onto her chin, forcing the Mist ninja to turn her head painfully. Cordi gave her a dangerous smile and said, "We're gonna play a little game. When the pain gets to be too much, you can either say 'uncle' or 'mercy,'" Cordi informed. "But, it will also mean you will give up the fight too." The Mist ninja rose her free hand up to try and pull the hand holding her head in place away. Cordi just dug her long nails into the skin, much like a cat would do to get a better grip on its prey. "Come on, are you in pain yet?" The Mist girl stayed silent. "Alright then," Cordi sighed, pushing the girl's wrist slowly up her back. She let out a whimper. "Come on, you have to yell either 'uncle' or 'mercy,'" Cordi laughed. The Mist ninja just let out a low grasp.
Cordi continued until she heard a pop and then the girl screamed, "UNCLE!!! MERCY!!!! WHAT EVER YOU WANT!!!!" Cordi smiled, but stopped pushing her arm up.
"The winner is Cordelia Turner," the announcer called out. Cordi let the ninja go, who instantly put her hand to her pained shoulder. It looked as if it was dislocated. Cordi grimaced, not wanting to go that far, but she knew if she said she was sorry, it would look stupid, so she stayed silent. She let her gaze drift up to the Kages' box to see Gaara giving her a proud ghost of a smile, also noticing the Mizukage leaving the box. She smiled back to him before walking to the staircase and running up to meet her friends.
"Nicely done," Lynne cheered as she reached the waiting area for the opponents. Suddenly Lynne went rigid for a second, before relaxing again. The other four looked at her strangely as if asking what was wrong. "I'm fine," Lynne reassured. "It's just nerves." They nodded to her, accepting her reasoning. They were all feeling jittery with the prospect of more fighting, especially Fred and Cordi. Neither of them felt entirely comfortable having to beat the other to a pulp in their next match.
They waited for a bit, watching the medics run in to help the Mist ninja out of the ring, trying to fix her dislocated shoulder while taking her back to the infirmary. "You're next," Cordi laughed, looking to her sister.
"I know," Rox stated, letting out a sigh, gripping the railing, anticipation wriggling in her fingertips. She just wanted to get it over with already.
"You'll do fine," Ronni laughed. "Actually, I'd be surprised if one of us didn't make it to the next round." Fred laughed, nodding in agreement. Things were looking up so far.
"Will the next opponents come to the ring!" the announcer called out. Rox didn't even look back at her friends for their reassuring words. She just appeared in the center of the arena in a tornado-like force of wind, swirling her hair around her in a dangerous display of power. The ninja she was facing, she was surprised to see someone from Sunagakure. There was no way this girl was older than fifteen. Rox eyed the girl a bit, taking in two fans tucked into her belt around her waist, showing Rox she was up against a fellow wind user. The big difference, controlling wind with only chakra was used up quickly, where Rox could use it easily without touching her chakra stores. She threw a look up at the Kage box to see Naruto laughing at Gaara, saying something along the lines of, "I'll bet you a hundred dollars Rox wins this one." Gaara didn't say anything, just pursed his lips. It was a fools bet, and everyone who heard it knew it. "Begin when you are ready," the announcer ordered, stepping back.
Rox grimaced at the girl before her. This match up made her feel like she was going to beat the crap out of a defenseless five year-old; completely demoralizing. "Quit now," she requested to the young shinobi.
The young girl from Suna fervently shook her head and replied, "My sensei would never forgive me if I quit."
"Who is your sensei? I'm pretty sure if your sensei knew who I was, they would allow it," Rox stated. "Because believe it or not, they would know you are at an incredible disadvantage."
"No, I'm not!" she yelled at Rox, whipping out her fans. "WIND SCYTHE JUTSU!!!"
Strike one, Rox stated slowly.
"Ah, Temari, then," Rox muttered to herself unimpressed as the gust whipped its way toward her. Rox took a small breath, and let out a steady stream, almost lightly whistling. Suddenly a burst of wind of wind blew back the jutsu toward the Suna shinobi, shocking her to see a wind user just use the air they breathe as their weapon. She was quickly knocked back into the wall, dropping her twin fans. Rox just looked at her bored, twirling a lock of hair from her ponytail, as the girl stood up slowly, back aching slightly from the sudden impact with the concrete wall.
The girl glared at Rox, before diving for her fans, which Rox allowed. She still had another two strikes to go. "TEMPEST WIND!!!" she yelled, swinging her fans around again. A tornado flew towards Rox in a clock wise motion, whirling loudly.
Strike two, Rox counted, raising a hand up spinning it counter-clockwise. The wind she created with that simple movement dispelled the tornado that was between them, setting the air back down to its more relaxed state.
The Suna ninja just gawked at Rox, not believing she countered her jutsus so easily. "This is your last chance to give up," Rox called out to her.
The Suna girl's face twisted into a snarl as she pulled out a couple Kunai. "NEVER!" she yelled, whipping the Kunai at her, using them as a decoy so she could get a better angle to hurt Rox.
Rox just flung her hand to the side, blowing the Kunai off course. "Strike three," she announced.
"TOO LATE!!!" The Suna ninja laughed, readying her jutsu. Suddenly, a breeze blew through the arena, taking Rox with it as if Rox were nothing but a ghost. The Suna shinobi stopped shocked. "Sh-she just d-disappeared," the girl murmured, not even believing her eyes. It had to be a gen-jutsu or something. People didn't just disappear like that. Suddenly, the hair on the back of her neck rose, feeling a light breeze right behind her, only then to feel a strong strike to the back of neck, where it met her skull, knocking her out.
Rox just looked at the girl collapsed on the ground. "How unnecessary," she sighed, starting to trek to a closer point towards the waiting room.
"Roxanne Turner is the winner!" the announcer stated as Rox became a part of the breeze again and appeared in the waiting room by her friends.
"Well done," Cordi cheered for her sister, smiling brightly at her.
"It felt like taking candy from a baby," Rox muttered, not pleased with it. She longed for a real fight if she had to fight at all.
"Well, what did you expect?" Lynne laughed. "We were given legendary powers, and you're expecting a real opponent other than us?"
Rox pursed her lips. To tell the truth, yeah, she kind of was. Watching them in their world, she figured she wouldn't be able to lay a finger on any one of the characters skill wise. "Well, whatever," she sighed. "You better get ready Ronni, since you're next."
Ronni smiled, fiddling with her left ring finger. Suddenly, Cordi noticed something gleam from her hand in the light and she shrieked, "You're engaged!?"
"Oh," Ronni laughed, "yeah. Kiba proposed last night." She flew up her left hand to show the nice white rock gleaming on it. Fred just stared, eyes wide and mouth screwed shut. It wasn't that she didn't like Kiba, it was just weird that her little sister was engaged before she was. It kind of made her feel like a spinster. A flash of the future went through her mind, seeing herself as an old woman in this world, alone.
"You aren't going to be an old lonely hag, Fred," Lynne stated, smiling. "Didn't your date with Kankuro go pretty well?" Fred shot her a look as if to ask her how she knew those things, then she remembered Lynne's gift and frowned.
"I thought I told you not to read my mind," Fred growled. Lynne just smiled. Fred let out a sigh, knowing Lynne's intentions were always noble, it just pissed her off from time to time. "Yes, it went well," Fred stated. Suddenly, a hopeful smile crossed the other four's faces. "Why?"
"You should go out with him again then," Cordi smiled, hoping to get both of their moping selves out of the house more.
"Uhm, in case you forgot," Fred stated, "You all are leaving tomorrow for Suna. Not much time to have a date."
"Well," Rox smiled, "we could meet up tonight and watch the sunset."
"Where?" Ronni asked, liking the idea.
"The Hokage's Mountain," Lynne stated as if it were obvious.
"Sounds like a plan. Everyone bring a date," Cordi laughed.
"Is Ronni Butler even here?" the announcer called, bringing the girls out of their conversation.
"Oh! Yes! SORRY!" Ronni yelled down to the arena, jumping over the railing, slightly embarrassed that she missed her entrance. She dusted herself off as soon as she landed. She quickly glanced at her opponent, to come up with a quick strategy for him. He was a fellow leaf ninja, armed up to the teeth with maces, knives, and two swords. Ronni pursed her lips, trying to think of a good way to go about beating a weapon's specialist. Honestly, she had no clue.
"Begin!" the announcer called out, signaling the weapon's specialist to speed at her, sword drawn and focus clear in his eyes.
"Crap," Ronni muttered, not able to avoid his strike. He ran her through with his sword, a smirk on his face, only to see that she had turned to a watery substance in her torso, where the sword was sticking through. He gawked at her, horrified and completely grossed out.
Suddenly she smiled curiously, until what seemed like an underwater spring or water main spewed out onto the arena, slowly engulfing the other ninja. She held him in the whirling ball of water, looking over to the announcer. He just watched, not saying anything. She shot him a confused look, hoping he'd say she won already, not wanting to drown the poor guy. She frowned, flinging him out of the water into the surrounding wall.
He propped himself up, sputtering water out of his lungs. She made a dramatic hand motion of raising something up, as if dragging it slowly. Droplets slowly formed into small bubbles of water hovering between them. She flicked one finger, sending a droplet hurtling towards him. As it hurtled towards him, it seemed the density of the water became thicker, harder, striking him hard in the shoulder. She flicked again into the other shoulder. She flicked again three times rapid fire, sending them into different points of his body. Then the last one, she flicked, sending the droplet into his head, knocking his head back. He looked forward, showing a massive welt forming right where the hardened ball of water struck him. She frowned. Nothing was enough for him. She pulled her hands up again, this time letting a stream flow up and around her arm playfully. She flung it at him, soaking him through, then hardening the water. He struggled against his icy confines, growling as he tried to break it.
"Try as you might," Ronni laughed, "it isn't going to break." He just growled, still trying to break it. Ronni frowned and looked at the announcer. "Call it," she ordered. He eyed her suspiciously before she added, "With water, there are only two types of attacks, ones that can hold the person or ones that can kill them. It's your choice." The announcer eyed her warily before looking up to Naruto, who just nodded back to him in reply.
"The winner is Ronni Butler," the announcer stated. Ronni smiled to him, letting her fellow leaf ninja go. He just scowled at her, which she ignored as she pulled a stream of water up, helping her back to the waiting room.
"Nicely done," Cordi laughed, patting her best friend on the shoulder.
"Jeez, it took forever!" Ronni sighed. "The freaking announcer guy would not call the match! I'm just like 'Hellooo, do you want him to die?'"
They all laughed except Lynne, who just smiled. The nerves were getting back to her, making her feel a little queasy again. She brushed it off and broke out into a grin. "Well, it's my turn next," she smiled.
Alright, time to start the next match, the announcer thought.
Lynne smiled, and laughed, "And that's my queue." She flung herself over the railing, with a dramatic forward flip, as if off the high dive, landing gracefully on her toes.
The announcer just gaped at her, before shaking himself out of his stupor. "Last opponents to the ring," he called out. Lynne looked over to where her opponent was landing, watching him fall slowly to the ground.
He was a ninja from the Clouds. Lynne smiled. It wouldn't really matter where he was from or what he could do. She had him beat already. But she felt bad that he didn't have a chance. Maybe if she just played around with him a bit before actually taking him down … Yeah, that will work.
"Begin," the announcer called. The cloud ninja reached for a kunai, readying to strike, until Lynne became invisible.
"Her too," he muttered, grabbing another kunai, preparing himself for an attack, now on the defensive. He heard grass crunch directly behind him, and he whirled around, striking the air. Nothing. He scowled, not liking this at all. He heard her laughing to his left, its echo around the arena haunting the air. He slashed out again, this time his wrist stopped mid-turn. She became visible, showing her strong hold on his arm, a grin on her face. She sent a swift kick to his butt before flinging him over her head, throwing him into the wall, dropping his kunai. His lungs let out a grunt on impact. He fell to the ground, getting back up and watched her, trying to gage her next move. She quickly became invisible again, last thing fading was her wide grin. He sighed, grabbing two kunai again from his pouch. He heard her laugh again, slashing out in that area again.
"You know, the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, but expecting different results," he could hear her laughing, but the sound was coming from everywhere. "Or, so say my friends." She was right behind him. He quickly dropped, swinging his leg around on the ground, tripping her, making her loose her invisibility.
She let out a grunt as her body hit the ground. "He can be taught," she laughed to herself, picking herself up. He grinned menacingly at her, happy to have gotten one blow in on her. If he could get one, maybe he could win. "Let's end this," she sighed. She lifted her hand, and shoved it forward, shoving him back, pinning him to the wall. He struggled against the hold of whatever she was doing, but it was hopeless. He couldn't move his arms or legs at all. She flung up her other hand, pulling up kunai out of her pouch with some invisible force. She held her hand limp, holding all ten kunai hovering in the air. An evil smile tugged at the corners of her mouth, before she flexed her fingers, sending the kunai flying toward him. One hit him in the right hand, pinning it to the wall. Another hit his arm at the shoulder, another snagged the collar of his shirt. Another caught him in his left knee, another at the hip. Another gashed his side, just beneath is lungs. And the last one to touch him came perilously close to his groin. The other four just hit the wall, within an inch of his body.
He tried his hardest to not show he was in pain, but him breathing hard to calm his body and trying to focus on other things was hard to miss. "You had enough?" Lynne asked, still holding her left hand up, keeping him against the wall. He didn't dignify her with and answer, just spat in her general direction. "I'll take that as a no," Lynne stated. "Well, it may look like I'm out of kunai, but I don't need them." She rose her right hand, pointing at him. She moved it only slightly, but the movement caused a cut along his right wrist. "I'll just work my way over to your left, until you say you've had enough," she informed him. Tallying his skin with little finger slashes. She stopped for a bit, feeling her nausea come back for a bit, but she shoved it back down. Must have been a bad dumpling or something, she thought to herself, before continuing making mince meat of his skin. This guy must have no aversion to pain, she frowned. She was already onto his left shoulder, and he hadn't said a thing yet. She gave one more long slash through his left arm, and then sighed. "Maybe you just need a rudimentary vasectomy," she sighed, positioning her hand, preparing to slash again. "The world does need more eunuchs," she mused, "lovely singing voices."
His grew wide as she said this. He shook his head violently, saying, "No, no no no no no." Rudimentary meant she might miss, and he rather liked his manhood in the first place. She tried her hardest not to smirk, hearing his thoughts. She began to run her hand over, about to cut him. "Alright, that's enough! I quit!" he yelled to her. She put down her hand.
"The winner is Lynne Belfoco," the announcer called. As he said this, she let the Cloud ninja down. His left leg instantly gave out on him, because of where she placed the kunai. He hissed in pain. "Get a medic," the announcer ordered, frowning in disgust at the bloodied ninja.
Lynne pursed her lips, until her nausea reappeared with a vengeance. She quickly ran over to a tree along the side, and emptied the contents of her stomach. She coughed a little, spitting the last remnants of the vile tasting substance out of her mouth. She straightened herself up, but then fainted.
"Give her some air," Lynne heard a girl order.
"What's wrong with her?" another girl asked.
"I don't know! I'm trying to figure that out," the first girl growled.
Lynne slowly opened her eyes to see Sakura leaning over her with her hands running over Lynne's body. Rox, Fred, Cordi, and Ronni were all crowded around her, worry evident on their faces. "What – happened?" Lynne groaned, trying to sit up. Sakura shoved her back down, keeping a hand over Lynne.
"You fainted," Sakura stated, not even looking at her. "I'm trying to figure out why."
"It's probably just a bug," Lynne sighed.
"No," Sakura corrected. "There were no bacteria in the vomit, and you don't have any viruses or toxins in your system." Lynne furrowed her brows in confusion.
"Will she be able to continue?" Naruto asked. Lynne looked around trying to pinpoint where the Hokage was. When she found him standing behind Sakura, she was surprised to see Gaara standing next him, frowning at her.
"Huh," Sakura let out, ignoring Naruto's question.
"What?" everyone asked simultaneously.
"Y- you and Sasuke move fast," Sakura stated through pursed lips. Lynne furrowed her brows again, as if to ask "What the hell does this have to do with Sasuke?" "You're pregnant."
Lynne sat up and just stared at Sakura as if she had two heads. Cordi just began to crack up before she was guffawing with laughter, the other three pursing their lips, but grinning wildly. "It's not funny," Lynne growled, shooting Cordi a death glare.
"You're right," Cordi chuckled. "It's hilarious." With that, the other three girls began to laugh a long with Cordi.
Gaara stared deadpan at his girlfriend, then stated, "I don't see how it can be so funny." He looked over to Naruto as if to ask him if he thought it was funny. Naruto was just grinning, but shrugged to Gaara.
"Well," Cordi started, trying to calm down her breath. "You know how I have that irrational fear of clowns?" Sakura, Naruto, and Gaara nodded. "Well, our friend Lynne here has an irrational fear of pregnancy." Gaara just blinked, trying to compute that, mouthing the words "Irrational fear of pregnancy."
"That's because it's unnatural," Lynne hissed.
"Yet, it's used to sustain nature," Cordi mused.
"You have to admit," Ronni sighed, calming her breathing, "it is ironic." The other girls nodded.
"That wasn't the biggest news," Sakura interrupted. Everyone turned to her, Lynne eyeing her suspiciously. "Judging from the amount your hormones jumped, you're having twins."
"TWINS!?!!?!" Lynne gaped, not believing this at all, and just wanting to wake up.
AN: So, comments? Who found all of the references? I am including actions in this count, btw. And yes, now there are two people preggers. Who thought Hinata was going to be the only one preggers for a while? Who thought Matsuri was going to be the last one to have a child out of wedlock? Sorry, those plots are the most fun to work with. ^.^0 Anyway, tell me in a review! I WANT TO KNOW!!!!