And we're back! Welcome to Twilight Key, Chapter 23!
Still might not do one, but if I was to do a pairing who would you guys want it to be with? I'm kind of curious as to who would be the popular pick. The worlds aren't confirmed yet, so try to keep this within the Naruto/Kingdom Hearts universes. Meaning only people who have appeared either in Naruto or one of the Kingdom Hearts games.
This chapter was so freaking long. I actually had to split it. I was going to upload it tomorrow or the next day, but then I realized it was just too long.
I have been dreading this chapter and the next for a while now. There are just too many fights…
The hardest part for me when it comes to writing this thing is starting the writing session. Once I start, I don't get back up for hours. I usually continue working until the chapter is done unless I have something else I need to do. But it just takes me forever to get off my ass and actually start working. I usually upload a chapter, then spend the next couple of days being lazy, before finally starting again on my phone on Tuesday or something.
Exalted Demi-Soul: It's like you're challenging to put it in some place that is totally random…But think about where they were in the actual game. All of those places were pretty obvious.
animecollecter: I just didn't see a point to keeping it at M. I really don't think it will ever get that graphic. And I know I will never even try to write a lemon. T is what this story should really be rated, so I changed it. If something happens, I will just change it back.
buterflypuss: I think I know what you meant now. To you, I had ended chapter 21 with Naruto being stupid. But I had always had the darkness in mind, meaning I was easily able to write that off as being normal.
prototype gear: I already have the Riku thing planned out a bit. Don't worry about it. And I get what you mean with the forest of death bit. Unfortunately, I needed to use the Konoha exam because of the Orochimaru stuff.
Guest: I could tell you, but that would be spoiling.
Golden feathers Edward: Thanks. I didn't like the chapter much because I had seen the initial draft. That thing was trash in my opinion. I tried to get away from it, but I wasn't able to get away from it as much as I would have liked, so it made my opinion of the chapter lower a bit. I don't really have an update schedule. I post in my profile the chapter word progress along with any notes on expected upload dates (if there are any). The thing is that I'm a full time college student who also has a job, so many of my updates are on or near the weekend.
jonnywolf: I wouldn't be able to trust myself with giving him another sword. I would just push off revealing the keyblade even more than I already have. :P
Dark Natsu Dragneel: …Fuck. I really like that idea, but it would mean scrapping some stuff I want to do. But it would also let me do other stuff I wanted to do…Freaking decisions…Meh, that's a problem for future me. Let him figure it out.
Anyways, on with the Story!
I don't own Naruto, Kingdom Hearts or anything else. I'm just a broke college student...
Normal Talking: "Insert witty remark here."
Normal Thinking: 'Insert witty remark here.'
Biju/Diety Talking: "Insert witty remark here."
Biju/Diety Thinking: 'Insert witty remark here.'
Scene Change: Insert Place Here
Jutsu/Magic/Technique: Insert Jutsu Here
End of 2nd Exam
Five days have now passed since the fifth exam has started. Naruto and the others have spent the past few days recovering from the injuries they gained in the forest and relaxing. After giving the small performance and talking to Hikari and Yami, Naruto did not get back up until it was time for dinner. By that time, Sasuke had finally rejoined the others only to tell them that the curse mark had been taken care of.
The teams that had passed the exam were now meeting in the arena-like room where they were to be debriefed on the next stage. Looking around, Naruto noted that there was a stage in the front of the room as well as viewing balconies on two walls.
"10 ryō says we have to fight each other next." Naruto said quietly to his teammates. This made Yakumo roll her eyes as an amused smile quirked her lips a bit.
"That's a suckers bet. Especially with you of all people on the other side."
"Hey, you never know. I could be totally wrong and all we have to do is showcase a couple of our techniques."
"I bet we actually do have to fight." They turned to see Misa and her team walking up to them. "It really wouldn't surprise me."
"Troublesome...I just want to take a nap." Shikamaru said as he and his team joined them. Looking closer, Naruto noticed that they were a little dirty.
Naruto smirked at the Nara. "You guys should have gotten here sooner like we did. I had plenty of time to take naps."
Ino sighed. "I wish we were able to. I wasn't even able to take a bath before we were told to gather here!" She stroked her hair. "Look at this! I haven't been able to properly wash my hair in days!"
"At least you're alive, Ino..."
The Yamanaka sent a pout at Narumi when she and the rest of the rookies joined them. "But I'm dying on the inside!" Menma rolled his eyes and shared an amused look with Kiba and Saito. "I saw that!" Ino yelled at them.
"Well now, it is nice to see that you guys are still as lively as ever." Naruto frowned a bit when he heard that voice. The group turned to see Kabuto walk up to them with a smile plastered on his face. "I don't know how you guys can have so much energy in an environment like this."
Sakura blushed a bit at that. "Sorry for being so loud again, Kabuto-san." She tilted her head. "How did your team do in the forest? We never saw you in there." She asked.
Kabuto grinned sheepishly and rubbed the back of his head. "We barely got here in time. It was really tough getting a scroll." Naruto didn't miss the subtle glance that he sent at Sasuke and him.
"But at least you managed to." Chōji said with a smile of his own.
Kabuto nodded. "Yes, we did manage to." He glanced around. "But so did a lot of teams. Definitely more than I was expecting. There are thirty-two people here..."
Shino raised an eyebrow. "Is the amount of participants at this stage unusual?"
Kabuto shrugged. "Can't really say. I haven't made it this far too many times. Actually, only once before. But I don't think that this many people sticking around this late in the game is a frequent occurrence." He said. "There are actually eight teams from Konoha that managed to make it. Along with a team from Suna, Oto, and Kumo."
"Do you believe that something will be done to decrease the numbers?"
Kabuto opened his mouth to respond, but was cut off as multiple puffs of smoke suddenly appeared on the stage, with all of the jōnin sensei, exam proctors, and Minato appearing. "Everybody shut up and line up by team!"
The older Konoha genin sent a smile at the rest of them. "Well, I guess we're about to find out. Good luck you guys." And with that, he walked off to join his teammates.
Once they were all lined up with their teams, Anko started talking. "I must say, I am surprised at the amount of you that managed to get this far. I must have made things too easy for you..."
'As if fighting a sannin was us having it easy.'
"But regardless, congratulations on passing the second stage of the chūnin exams." She stepped to the side. "Hokage-sama has something to say to you worms so listen up!" She gained a twisted smile. "If any of you have problems with doing so, we can spend some quality one on one time to...remedy any issues you have."
Minato sweat dropped at the phrasing but sent her a nod and smile. "Thank you Anko." He looked at the assorted genin in front of him. "Once again, congratulations on making it this far. I know that it must have been difficult for you to do so, but you have already managed to finish two out of three exams."
Shikamaru sagged a bit more. "Thank kami...almost done with this troublesome thing..." Naruto smirked when he heard this get muttered.
"But before we continue, I would like to take a minute to speak to you about something." His smile dimmed a bit as he looked around again. "It is about the true purpose of the exam."
Naruto raised an eyebrow. 'The purpose of the exam?'
A sigh escaped Minato's lips. "Although I wish it didn't have to be like this, there is a meaning to the exam beyond deciding who is ready to become a chūnin. These exams...are a substitution for active war."
Multiple genin throughout the room had their eyes widen in surprise at that. "The heck does that mean?!" Kiba shouted, earning himself a disapproving look from Kurenai.
Minato sighed. "I won't go too far into detail, but the basic summary is that the chūnin exams are a way for villages to get together and showcase their strength. This provides multiple uses." He said.
'I get it now. The villages would of course want to show off their up and coming shinobi, but war is something that everybody would like to avoid...'
"But why? Why should we risk our lives just to show off how strong the village is?"
"As shinobi, we truly surpass our limits when we need to. This is done when our lives are at risk." He shook his head. "But that is not the entire reason. Many people come to view the chūnin exams. And many of them are potential business for the villages."
Naruto's mouth formed a small frown. 'We really are just a way to bring in more money.'
"I don't need to tell you how important this is for each village." He paused to look them over again. "But while that is a major reason, it is also true that the chūnin exams provide a chance for the villages to come together in peace to compete." He grinned. "You do your villages proud by showcasing your skills in front of a large audience like that." He spread his arms out. "So once again, congratulations! You have made it this far, and your goal is nearly in reach!"
Misa and Naruto exchanged smirks at this before Naruto turned his gaze to Gaara. 'I still need to take care of that situation...'
"Now then. I believe it is time to get this show back on track. The next step for..." Minato trailed off as someone stepped forward.
The man coughed before speaking up. "If I may, Hokage-sama. I would like to be the one to explain the next portion of the exam." He coughed again.
"Ah, sure. They're all yours, Hayate." The man named Hayate nodded before turning to the crowd of chūnin hopefuls.
He wore the standard Konoha shinobi attire with the only variation being that his forehead protector was worn as a bandana. His hair was short and dark brown in color while he also had dark eyes. There were pronounced dark markings under his eyes. Naruto's eyes were drawn to the katana he had on his back. But there was something even more noticeable about the man that caught Naruto's attention.
'Is this guy alright...?' Just by looking at him, Naruto was able to tell that he was sick. The man seemed to be unable to go an extended period of time without coughing. And those marks under his eyes showed a lot of fatigue.
Hayate coughed again before speaking. "My name is Hayate Gekkō. I wil-" He interrupted himself with a cough.
'No seriously. Is he ok?'
"Sorry about that. I will be the proctor of the third portion of the chūnin exams." His eyes briefly raked over the group in front of him. He coughed again before speaking. "Unfortunately, there are too many of you. Because of this, we will be running a preliminary round now before the exam."
Naruto shared a glance with Shikamaru. So there really were too many people...
"You will now all be selected two at a time. When your name is chosen, you will come to the center of the aren-" He coughed again. "Come to the center of the arena and commence in a one on one fight."
Naruto leaned closer to Yakumo. "You totally owe me 10 ryō." He whispered to her. Yakumo's response was to send her elbow into his gut.
Hayate looked around. "Before we continue, is there anyone who would like to forfeit now?"
Naruto noticed out of the corner of his eye that Kabuto shifted a bit. Looking over, he saw that Kabuto had his hand partway raised before pausing with a small frown on his face. After a moment, Kabuto lowered his hand again.
Naruto narrowed his eyes a bit. 'What was that about? He doesn't even look tired, why would he even think about giving up now?'
Another cough. "No one?" Hayate waited for another moment. "Very well then. All thirty two of you will participate. I guess this will work out better in the end with these numbers..." He turned and nodded to Anko, who in turn nodded back before speaking into the headset she had on. The attention of the genin were drawn to back wall which retracted two panels to show a giant screen. "We will now select the first two combatants."
Naruto looked around. 'I don't really have a problem fighting anyone here. But I wish I had my sword still.' His eyes returned to Gaara. '...Well, maybe I wouldn't like to fight him here and now.' He looked back as names started flashing on the screen as it decided on the first match.
Menma (Konoha) vs Misa (Konoha)
Menma grinned widely. "Alright, here we go! I'm gonna prove once and for all how awesome I am-ttebasa!"
Misa smirked over at him. "You sure about that? I'm not going down without a fight."
Hayate coughed again before speaking. "The first match is between Menma of Konoha and Misa of Konoha. Participants, please come to the center of the arena. Those not in the match, please relocate to the viewing balconies. We will begin in a few minutes."
Naruto looked at both Menma and Misa. "Good luck to the both of you."
Misa's smirk only grew. "Sorry, Naruto. It looks like I have to kick your brother around a bit."
This got a challenging grin from the redhead. "I don't care if you have been a shinobi for a year longer than I have, there is no way I'm losing here!"
Naruto rolled his eyes. "Both of you are truly humble individuals." And with that, he turned and walked towards the stairs leading to the balconies.
He was only able to go three feet.
"Yo yo yo! Hold it up there, bro!"
'The hell was that?' Naruto turned towards the source and stared.
It was a large man with dark skin and a muscular build that had whitish-blond hair and a goatee. On his right shoulder was the kanji for "iron" and on his cheek was a tattoo depicting bull horns. He also had on oval sunglasses and a white Kumo forehead protector. His attire consisted of the standard one-strap-over-one-shoulder flak jacket of Kumo, a long red rope belt, the standard Kumo hand and shin guards, and a white scarf. On his back were seven swords.
Naruto just stared as the moron in front of him continued to gesture around with various hand signs and shift his weight from one foot to the other. 'Oh dear kami no. Not another idiot.' Naruto turned around. "Sorry, but I'm not dealing with this. Go talk to someone else."
"Oh, what a cruel fate of the divine! To be rejected like that by Mr. Nine!"
That made Naruto freeze. He slowly turned back to him. "You know about the Kyūbi?" He asked. While it was more of an open secret, it was still slightly surprising to hear that people from other villages knew about it and would call him something like that.
"I wasn't totally sure to be fair, cuz it feels like the fox isn't all there!" The man said.
Naruto frowned at him before slowly nodding. "Yeah...I only have the soul while my siblings both got half of the chakra."
The man rubbed his chin on thought. "Oh, that's a new thought. But I guess that explains why I detect the fox in more than one spot!" He looked down at Naruto. "But we are getting off track. I'm Killer B, now you pick up the slack!"
Naruto sweat dropped. 'Pick up the slack? What the hell does that mean? Of the conversation? He wants me to introduce myself?' Deciding that this was the most likely conclusion, Naruto nodded. "Naruto Uzumaki-Namikaze..."
B nodded. "It's cool to meet another jinchuriki, you can call me lord B!"
Naruto blinked at him. "Disregarding the fact that I'm only a partial jinchuriki, you are a jinchuriki?"
"I am the host of number eight, King octo-bull the great!" The man paused for a moment. Before Naruto could ask what was wrong, he pulled out a small notebook and started to write in it quickly while muttering to himself. "...King octo-bull...the great."
The sweat drop was only getting bigger. 'He is actually writing it down to remember it? That sucked!'
B closed his notebook with a snap. "I look forward to seeing what you can do. You will have to give it your all if you want to beat my crew!" He gestured to the genin that were holding their heads in their hands on the other balcony. Naruto could only send them a sympathetic look.
He knew what it was like to have a teacher who was impossibly infuriating.
"But anyways, I think it's time for me to skedaddle. They are about to start the battle!" He raised a fist.
This action got a raised eyebrow in return. But understanding what he wanted, Naruto raised his own fist and bumped it with his.
He was not expecting what happened next.
Station of Awakening
Naruto jerked into awareness and quickly looked around. "How the heck did this happen?"
"I would like to know that as well."
Naruto spun around at the voice and froze at what he saw. In front of him was a giant octopus...bull…thing. Going by what B had said and the number of tails, Naruto was quickly able to figure out what he was looking at. "The Hachibi..."
"Indeed. But moving past that, how did we get here?" He looked around. "And where is here? Is this your mind scape?"
"Well it must be. I don't think we would wind up anywhere else, ya see?" Great he was here too.
'They gotta go!' Naruto quickly closed his eyes.
Back in the Arena
Naruto returned to awareness and immediately pulled his hand away from B as he glared. "You could have warned me that would happen."
B rubbed the back of his head. "I'm sorry about that, bro. It was actually the first time I've ever seen that, ya know?"
The crimson blond shook his head. "Whatever. No harm no foul." He turned away. "I wish your team luck in the exams."
The Kumo shinobi nodded with a grin. "Good to meet you, Mr. Nine. Be sure to get by this portion just fine." And with that, he left to join his team.
Naruto soon joined his team on the other balcony. They shot him curious looks. "What was that about?" Yakumo asked him.
She got a shrug in return. "Nothing much. He just was able to tell that I held the soul of the Kyūbi and wanted to meet me."
Yūgao nodded from her spot behind them. "Not surprising, really. Killer B is known to be the jinchuriki of the Hachibi as well as being an overall friendly person...if you don't insult his raps."
Narumi gaped a bit from her spot nearby. "That guy is a jinchuriki?" She looked at Killer B and narrowed her eyes as she scrutinized his appearance. "What form does the Hachibi take?"
"An octopus bull...thing..." Naruto was the one to answer, but he did so absentmindedly. 'What made us enter the Station of Awakening? Was it the fist bump?' He frowned as he thought more. 'Moving past that, I can't believe how polite that bijū was!' He couldn't even detect any obvious traces of darkness!
He blinked when he felt someone tap him on the shoulder to get his attention. Looking over, he was met with the slightly concerned face of Yakumo. "What's wrong?" She asked him.
Naruto's response was to give her a small smile and shake of the head. "Don't worry about it."
They looked back down to the arena when Hayate stepped in between Menma and Misa.
Back in the Arena
Hayate looked in between the two of them. "Are both of you ready?"
"You know it."
"Ready and willing."
"Good." He raised a hand, causing both of them to tense in preparation. He brought it back down swiftly after a moment. "Begin!" Hayate immediately jumped back as both Misa and Menma rushed each other.
The two of them started the match with a short exchange of blows before jumping away again. This short pause did not last long however as they went back in for another round. Menma launched a punch at Misa that she managed to block, but she was caught off guard when Menma used the momentum of his punch to spin around to her side and deliver a kick to her.
Despite being caught off guard, Misa was able to react quickly enough to catch the leg. Not wanting to give him the chance to try something else, Misa used the hold she had on him to knock him off balance.
Knowing that he was going down, Menma didn't fight it and instead rolled into it to dodge the strike that Misa sent. Immediately getting back to his feet, Menma used the opening to land a combo on Misa.
Misa took a few hits before breaking Menma's pace and returning her own blows.
Back with the Others
The others had been watching silently as the match progressed. The silence was eventually broken by Narumi. "They look pretty even..." She said.
"No. They're not."
Narumi blinked before looking over to over to Wataru and tilting her head. "What do you mean? They look like neither can get the advantage for too long."
Wataru didn't look at her as he frowned lightly at the fight. "Look closer. They both seem to like relying on taijutsu and seem to be at about the same level in speed, but it also looks like Menma is slightly stronger. He is also better at thinking on his feet. Misa's style revolves around anticipating her opponent's moves and acting accordingly. Menma isn't really thinking ahead, he just...reacts..."
Naruto snorted. "That's a nice way to say he rushes in without thinking."
Wataru smiled wryly. "Maybe so. But either way, it's working for him. Misa is more experienced, but she may still lose this match."
"I think I see what you mean now..." Narumi said quietly as she looked back at the match. "Oh, it looks like it's ending..."
Back in the Arena
Bam! Misa was sent tumbling back as Menma managed to get a strong kick under her guard. She rolled for a bit before shakily getting to her feet as she panted and clutched her gut.
Menma, while panting as well, did not look as bad off as Misa did. He grinned at her as he stood in a battle stance. "You ready to give yet?"
She glared at him. "Oh, shut it you ass." She assessed her condition. After a moment of thought, she sighed and looked to Hayate. "I'm done. I don't think I will be able to keep up with him much longer. I'm satisfied with how far I've gotten, so no regrets."
Hearing this, Hayate nodded and raised a hand towards Menma. "Winner, Men-" He coughed again. "Menma of Konoha."
Some cheers began as the announcement was made. Menma grinned and walked up to Misa. "Awesome fight. I had a lot of fun. You doing alright?" He asked her.
The older Konoha genin smiled back at him and shrugged. "Thanks, back at you. And don't worry about it, I'm fine." She grinned challengingly at him. "But don't expect it to turn out the same way the next time we fight." This response made him smirk.
Back with the Others
After the winner was declared, the others had begun to clap. Ikusa sighed and looked to Wataru. "That's a shame. But I guess it was hoping for too much for all of us to pass."
Wataru nodded. "Yeah, and it was bad luck that some of us have to face each other." They and the others turned when Misa and Menma joined them. "Nice job you two. Better luck next time, eh Misa?"
Misa shrugged a bit. "Yeah, I guess. I didn't pass this time, but I will next time for sure."
Naruto smirked at her. "Wow, what a good sport. I'm amazed you can be so mature about this." He shifted his gaze to his brother. "And who would have thought that you wouldn't be bragging a bunch about this?" They both rolled their eyes at him.
Narumi grinned at Menma. "Congrats, Menma. Nice to know you can actually perform decently in a fight without someone there to bail you out."
Seeing the glare her younger son was sending and knowing an argument was about to start, Kushina intervened. "Enough, don't fight now." She grinned at Menma and Misa. "But really, that was a good fight you two." She looked around. "But where's your sensei? Shouldn't they be here?"
Misa frowned a bit. "Sensei said that he had to leave on a sudden mission in another country. This was like a week back. He doesn't even know if he will be back before the exams end." They turned when they heard Hayate cough.
Naruto frowned a bit. "Was that a normal cough or one to try and get our attention?" He asked.
Yūgao sighed. "That was just a normal cough. If he wanted to get people's attention, then he would have made it louder."
Her students blinked at her. "How can you tell?" Yakumo asked with a tilt f her head.
Kushina grinned as she cut Yūgao off before she could answer. "That's because they're a couple! You should hear some of the stuff Yūgao-chan says about Hayate! She's so head over heels for him-ttebane!" Yūgao blushed a bit as sent a weak glare at Kushina. Her blush deepened when she heard Narumi and Yakumo giggle.
They looked back down as a cough sounded out again, but louder this time. "I think I see what you mean..." Naruto muttered.
Back in the Arena
Hayate waited for the chatter to die down again before speaking. "We are now going to select the participants of the next match. Please direct your attention to the screen." They did so and names soon began to cycle through. After a minute, two names were selected.
Saito (Konoha) vs Tenten (Konoha)
"Would Saito of Konoha and Tenten of Konoha please step into the arena?" Before anything else could be said or done, the ears of everyone in the room were assaulted by something.
"YOSH! The time has come, my youthful student!" All eyes were immediately drawn to the form of Might Gai. "It is now that the flames of your youth will burn brighter than ever before!" He pointed to the arena. "I have faith that no matter the outcome, you will prove to all that your flames burn with a passion that can never be dimmed!" Tenten looked mortified at what she was hearing.
"YOSH!" Lee had no qualms with joining in.
Gai shifted his finger to the Kakashi. "Kakashi, my rival! This shall be the first test of which of us has the more youthful pupils! Are you prepared for this?!"
Kakashi just stood there with his nose in his book. After a moment, he sent a disinterested glance at Gai. "Hm? Did you say something?"
Gai clenched his fist and shook it back. "You and your hip attitude are growing ou-"
"Enough!" He was interrupted from speaking further by his female student. "I need to go down there now to have my match. I don't want you to speak anymore until it is over!" She glared at him. "Is that clear?" Gai averted his gaze a bit as he nodded silently. Tenten then turned her glare to Lee. "The same goes for you." Lee flinched and nodded. Tenten immediately smiled. "Good!" She then turned and walked towards the stairs.
'What the heck is up with that team dynamic?' Naruto would be lying if he said that he didn't even find it little amusing. He looked over to Saito. "Well, good luck with your match."
Saito sighed and nodded. "Thanks. I hope she goes easy on me."
A hand clamped down on his shoulder. He looked back to see the eye smile of Kakashi. "I have faith in you. I know you will at least last a couple of minutes." All this did is make Saito slump.
Kushina glared at Kakashi. "That is no way to encourage your students, Kakashi-kun."
Kakashi flinched under the look and averted his eyes. "Ah. I understand, senpai..." The others smirked at the exchange.
Sakura turned to Saito. "Good luck, Saito. Kick some butt out there." She got a grateful smile in return.
"Hn. Don't lose too quickly…" This comment from Sasuke only served to make Saito slump even more.
Menma grinned widely and thumped his friend on the back. "Don't be like that! Go down there and show her what you're made of!"
"I'm more worried that she will forcibly remove the stuff I'm made of..." Saito sighed again before gathering his resolve. He put on a determined expression. "Let's do this." He turned and walked towards the stairs.
Back in the Arena
Saito soon made his way down to the center and stood off a bit from Tenten. She grinned at him. "Hey there. Good luck to the both of us. Let's have a good fight."
Saito smiled back and nodded. "Sure. The same for you. Let's show them something good."
Hearing that the both of them were done exchanging pleasantries, Hayate looked between them. "Are the both of you ready?" He asked them and got two nods in return. Nodding, he coughed before raising a hand. "Second match, begin!" He gave the signal and quickly jumped out of the way.
And not a moment too soon.
The instant that the match began, both Saito and Tenten immediately plunged their hands into pouches and pulled out scrolls. Simultaneously, they unrolled the scrolls and pumped chakra into them. The space between them was immediately filled with speeding kunai.
Seeing the oncoming danger, both of them jumped to the side. Reacting quickly, Tenten sent another wave of weapons at Saito. Her opponent saw this and had to jump out of the way again before hurling a kunai at her.
Tenten moved to the side and readied another set of weapons, but froze when he heard a hissing sound behind her. 'Oh crap!' She dove forward immediately. Boom! 'How did I miss that paper bomb attached to it?' Her eyes widened when she saw a shadow appear over her.
"I've got you now!" Saito had used the chance to get in close with a sword that he had unsealed from another scroll. Clang! Sparks flew as Tenten barely managed to bring out a kunai in time to block the strike. "Wow, you are really fast when it comes to getting the weapon you need. I was hoping to end it with that…"
Tenten sent him a small grin. "Thanks, I've worked hard to get my dexterity as fast as it is. You will need to be a little faster than that to catch me without a weapon." Although she said that, she was struggling to keep Saito's sword away. 'Geh. Using a kunai to block a sword sucks! But he came too quickly for me to bring out something else.' Tenten's grin grew. "But I'm really surprised. I never thought I would have to fight another weapons specialist."
Saito grinned and nodded. "Same here. I was shocked to see that we opened the match the same way. But…" He pressed down harder, causing Tenten to buckle a bit. "I would also like to see which of us the better weapons specialist is. Don't worry, this sword has a reverse blade."
He got a challenging smirk in return. "Oh, I already know who the better specialist is. I'll just have to show you!" She moved to the side, causing Saito to lose his balance slightly as the opposing force was suddenly removed from his sword. Using the chance, Tenten jumped into the air with another scroll in her hand. "Dodge this!"
Back with the Others
"Oh wow, she fights just like Saito…" Sakura said quietly with wide eyes.
"Not quite. They do use similar tactics, but there are some slight differences." Kakashi said from behind her without even looking up.
The pink haired girl tilted her head curiously and looked back at him. "What do you mean, Kakashi-sensei? They are both using weapons to fight."
The response that she got was a glance and an eye smile. "Well, can you tell me what kind of weapons they are using?" She blinked and looked back to the fight. After a moment, she saw what he meant.
"Tenten-san prefers to keep her distance." The group turned to Sai when he spoke. "Saito-san is attempting to get close, but is unable to. Although they both started with ranged weapons, Saito quickly changed to close range when he saw that she was also a weapons specialist."
Kakashi nodded with another eye smile. "Exactly. Saito has always preferred to use swords and other close ranged weapons, but he often starts out with some long range weapons to see how his opponent reacts. But it looks like Gai's student prefers to keep her distance when she fights."
Narumi frowned a bit. "Then who would you say has the advantage? Saito with close range or Tenten-san with long range?" She asked.
"Mah, let's just watch and find out. It really depends on who can get the advantage first."
Back in the Arena
"Would you just hold still?!"
"Why would I do that?! Why don't you come closer?!"
Tenten growled a bit when she got that response. No matter how many weapons she threw at the guy, he would just keep moving out of the way! The only advantage was that he also wasn't able to get close. A smirk appeared on her face. 'Let's see him dodge this…' She brought out another scroll. Instead of unrolling it, she rushed towards Saito. 'I will have to time this just right!'
Although slightly surprised, Saito rushed forward to meet her while keeping one eye on the scroll in her hand. Once close enough, he brought forward his sword. Tenten didn't even blink so she could get the timing just right. 'Now!' Suddenly, she brought the scroll forward.
Seeing this, Saito changed the direction of his sword at the last moment to the arm holding the scroll, stopping her from opening it. Tenten stopped her arm and diverted her direction to the right, but she wasn't quick enough to dodge the sword. "Son of a-" She rolled into a kneeling position as she gripped her arm.
Saito just frowned at her. "What was that about? Was there any plan at all to that? Or were you just hoping that I wouldn't be able to react in time to stop that scroll?" He blinked when she saw the smirk on her face. "What?"
Tenten only smirked more. "Well, I would say that my plan worked out pretty well."
A small frown came to Saito's face. "I stopped you from opening that scroll, which is still in your hand, and managed to hurt you. Your speed and accuracy with weapons will now be hindered. How do you figure your plan worked?"
A giggle escaped Tenten. "Oh, just the fact that you're still standing there…"
Saito's eyes widened and his head snapped down. There, on the floor right where he was standing, was an opened scroll.
"Saito! Get out of there!"
"Shi-" Boom!
Before he could even begin to move or answer Sakura's shout, the scroll went off. "Gah!" Saito was launched into the air by the torrent of wind and weapons that launched out of the scroll. While the massive wind launched him into the air, the mass amount of weapons sliced into every inch of his body.
Thud! Saito soon returned to the ground. While hurt and winded, he wasn't out of the fight yet. He began to pick himself up, only to freeze when he felt the cold steel of a kunai tip on the back of his neck. "I would say you should give up." He could practically feel the grin on her face…
Saito sighed quietly as he laid back down. "I should have seen that coming. A distraction with an obvious rush and then hitting me with a delayed attack…" He shook his head a bit before raising his voice. "I give up."
Hayate nodded and raised a hand. "Winner, Tenten of Konoha!"
Cheers rang out from the audience. Tenten was doing her best to ignore the obnoxious cheering of the two people clad in green jumpsuits. She removed the kunai threatening to stab into Saito and offered him a hand. "Great match. I had a lot of fun. It isn't that often that I get to have that kind of fight."
With a small smile, Saito took the offered hand. "Thanks. And you're right. There aren't enough weapons specialists around."
A cough interrupted them. They both blinked and looked to the side where Hayate was looking at them. "If you could please remove all of the weaponry from the arena so we can start the next match…" He said.
Both Tenten and Saito blinked at each other before gaining sheepish grins.
Back with the Others
"That's too bad. It's a shame that Saito lost…" Sakura said as she watched Saito leave the room for a bit to get his cuts treated.
Menma shrugged with a small grin. "Maybe, but he at least managed to put up a fight. I thought he was doing pretty well up until the end there."
Kakashi nodded while looking at his book. "Saito performed well. Tenten just had some better tactics and maneuvers at her disposal to pull out a win." He was silent for a minute. Then suddenly, his shoulders sagged and he hung his head.
Both Kushina and Yūgao raised an eyebrow at the unusual behavior. "What's the matter with you?" Yūgao asked him.
"Gai won't let this one go for a long time…" This got amused looks from the two of them.
"Oh, look! The next match is about to be decided." Yakumo said. The others looked up to the screen as it cycled through more names. Eventually, it stopped on the next two fighters.
Sasuke (Konoha) vs Yoroi (Konoha)
Sasuke gained a smirk when he saw his name appear on the screen. Without saying a word, he turned and left towards the stairs. "Good luck, Sasuke-kun!" Both Sakura and Ino glared at each other from where they were standing, before stiffening and diverting their eyes when Narumi cleared her throat.
The exit of the Uchiha made Naruto roll his eyes. "Wow. What a heart throb. It was totally cool of him to leave like that without saying a word. I'm totally holding myself back from throwing my panties at him…" Naruto said loudly in a sarcastic tone. Sasuke's ears turned red at this and he walked a little bit faster as Menma and Kiba laughed.
Yakumo rolled her eyes. "That was unnecessary." She admonished.
Naruto smirked. "Maybe so. But I had fun doing it."
Back in the Arena
Sasuke stood across from his opponent with a smirk on his face. He took in his appearance.
His appearance was greatly concealed by the mask he wore around his mouth and hung around his neck, the sunglasses he had on, and the bandana style of the forehead protector he had on. His attire consisted of what looked to be his team's uniform. Just like Kabuto, he was wearing a purple shirt with a white undershirt along with an obi around his waist and fingerless gloves.
Yoroi scoffed. "You're my opponent? A kid like you isn't worth my time."
This made Sasuke glare back. "I'll finish you quickly. I won't even have to use any jutsu to do it. All taijutsu." He crouched into a battle stance.
The response from his opponent began with a growl. "You arrogant little punk! Don't complain when I beat you into the ground." He also crouched into a battle stance.
Seeing that they were ready to begin, Hayate raised an arm with a cough. "Third math, begin!" He immediately jumped back.
The moment the match started, Yoroi formed a hand seal, causing his hands to be coated in blue chakra. He followed this up by rushing at Sasuke.
This tactic made Sasuke smirk. "A frontal assault? Is that all?" He moved out of the way when Yoroi lunged at him. "I don't know what jutsu you are using, but I don't see a problem as long as I don't let you touch me." He dodged to the side again when Yoroi tried to grab him.
"Would you just stay still?!"
Sasuke smirked as he avoided him again. "You're too slow. How have you managed to last this long with speed like that?" He crouched a bit. "Let me show you some real speed!" He rushed at Yoroi and immediately got under his guard.
"Wha?!" Yoroi was cut off from any further comments due to the foot that impacted the underside of his chin, launching him into the air. Sasuke immediately followed after him.
"Take this!" Sasuke sent a strike to Yoroi's side, but it was blocked.
"Is that it?" Yoroi taunted.
Sasuke's smirk grew as he twisted his body around. "Not even close!" Wham! He sent a strong blow to Yoroi's other side. Another soon joined it, causing Sasuke to be able to position himself above Yoroi as they neared the ground. "Lion's Barrage!" Bam! Sasuke finished the combo with a strong kick to Yoroi's body the moment that he impacted the ground. Sasuke then flipped away and landed on his feet.
The room was silent for a moment as they waited for Yoroi to get back up. Not seeing anything being done, Hayate walked over to the genin and checked on him. After a moment, he nodded and raised a hand towards Sasuke. "Yoroi is unable to continue. Winner, Sasuke of Konoha."
Cheers greeted this announcement as Sasuke walked away towards the stairs, smirk still on his face.
Back with the Others
"Well that was a quick match…" Menma said with Saito, who had just gotten back, nodding in agreement.
"Yeah, it was. But it looked like Sasuke-kun was in top form while his opponent was still fatigued. Plus, I think his opponent wasn't that skilled in the first place…" Kushina said. She turned to Kakashi. "But that move in the end, that looked a lot like one of Gai-kun's moves…"
Kakashi nodded. "I believe it was based on one of his moves. Sasuke fought with the mini-Gai before the first exam. He must have been able to copy it then…" He turned to Sasuke who had just joined them. "Is that about right?"
"Hn."
With a nod, Kakashi eye smiled at Kushina. "That means yes in Sasuke-ese." This remark earned him a glare from Sasuke and amused looks from the others. Kakashi turned towards the screen. "It looks like the next match is about to be decided." They all turned to the screen as it selected the next pair of names.
Ikusa (Konoha) vs Temari (Suna)
Ikusa smirked and nodded. "Well then, I guess it's time to show you all how a real shinobi battles." Misa, Naruto, and Wataru rolled their eyes.
"Whatever. Just don't completely get destroyed in seconds."
A smirk appeared on Ikusa's face. "Don't you worry about it. I'm sure that I will be able to blow away the competition." Misa and Wataru immediately looked at each other with entertained looks.
"Now he's done it." Misa started.
"Yes, it is a lost cause now." Wataru turned to Ikusa. "Try not to get hurt too badly out there. That jinx you just implemented might make you get hurt pretty badly…"
Ikusa huffed. "Whatever." He started to walk towards the stairs.
Back in the Arena
Temari smirked as she stood across from Ikusa. "I hope you won't be too mad when you lose." She taunted.
Ikusa rolled his eyes. "Why does everyone keep telling me that? I would like to think that I have a pretty good chance of winning here."
The Suna genin looked amused. "I don't think you have much of a chance if you have to beat me."
"Well, I guess we will have to see then, won't we?" Ikusa crouched in preparation, causing Temari to do the same.
Hayate nodded. "Fourth match, begin!" He jumped back.
The moment he had the go ahead, Ikusa flew through hand seals before taking a deep breath. "Wind Style: Air Bullets!" He expelled a multiple blasts of wind at Temari.
Temari blinked at the attack before smirking. She brought around her fan and waved it at the oncoming attack. A blast of air shot out of the fan, countering Ikusa's attack and causing it to fade. "A wind user? It's just your bad luck that you have to face me." She said. But she blinked when she didn't see her opponent anywhere.
"I wouldn't be too sure about that." Temari was forced to dive to the side as she heard the voice behind her, but not fast enough to completely avoid the object that ripped her sleeve. She whirled around the moment she regained her balance with wide eyes to see Ikusa standing there with a short sword in his hand that was encased in chakra.
She narrowed her eyes at it. "Flying Swallow." She said. 'But how did he get close so quickly?' The answer soon came to her. "You manipulated the air around you to allow yourself to move quicker…"
Ikusa smirked. "Yep. I guess you would figure it out, being a wind specialist." Temari blinked at him in surprise. "Oh, don't be like that. How could you not be a wind specialist with that big ass fan you carry around?"
Temari smirked. "Heh, I guess it was kind of a giveaway…" She crouched in preparation. "I guess you are a close to mid-range wind user? Let's see how you do when you can't get in close!" She waved her fan again. "Wind Style: Wind Cutter!" Blades of wind shot out of her fan and towards Ikusa.
Back with the Others
Asuma grinned as he watched the fight. "Two wind users? And both of them are facing each other? That's an interesting matchup."
Kurenai smirked at him. "You would be interested in this one."
The response she got was a shrug and a grin. "How could I not be? There aren't too many of us wind users in the village. I probably know all of the people who use it."
Ino tilted her head at him. "There aren't? I would think there would be more than that…"
Her teacher sighed and shook his head in dismay. "Nope. Wind users are super rare around here, much less people who specialize in it. I don't even specialize in it completely. I'm still one of the best wind users in the village, but I also balance out with some other techniques."
Ino nodded. "I get it…"
Back in the Arena
'Dammit! She really won't let me get any closer!' Ikusa cursed in his mind as he was forced to move out of the way of another blast of wind. While he knew some ranged wind techniques, he wasn't that good with them. He always preferred to get in close or keep a little distance. But she was forcing him to stay on the other side of the room! "Hey, it totally isn't fair that you have that freaking fan! I don't have anything to boost my range!"
"Don't care! It isn't my fault you aren't ready for this!" Temari waved her fan again, launching more blades of wind at him. "You really are useless at long range, aren't you?"
Ikusa growled. "You know what? Fine! If you wanted a long range battle, I'll give you one! Fan or no fan, you're going down!" He started forming hand seals. He took a deep breath before exhaling. "Wind Style: Vacuum Great Sphere!" A giant sphere of blast of compressed wind was launched at Temari.
Instead of moving out of the way, Temari smirked and readied her fan. She brought it back before swinging it and dispelled the attack. "Is that it? I'm a little disappointed." She shook her head. "But I guess that was all you could do. It has been a fun fight."
Ikusa frowned at her. "What are you talking about? I'm still good to go."
Temari shook her head. "You won't be in a second." Whoosh!
"Argh!" Ikusa yelled in pain as a tornado suddenly descended upon him, catching him completely off guard.
"It took me a little longer to set up because we are indoors, but I eventually managed to do it." Temari grinned at him. "Wind Style: Great Task of the Dragon." She stated as the tornado dissipated, revealing a severely cut up and downed Ikusa. She turned to Hayate. "I don't think he is getting back up."
Hayate looked at Ikusa before nodding. He coughed before raising a hand towards Temari. "Winner, Temari of Suna."
Back with the Others
Misa sighed as Ikusa was carted off to the infirmary. "We warned him."
Wataru nodded in agreement. "We absolutely did. There was no way he could say all of that and come out on top still."
Naruto looked extremely amused at their conversation. "You guys guessed that would happen just by what Ikusa said before the fight?" He asked them. He got two nods in return.
"Yeah, it pretty much became a given he would lose the moment he opened his mouth." Misa told him.
Yūgao sent her and Wataru a quizzical look. "Shouldn't you two be more concerned about your teammate? He was hit pretty hard back there."
"It's his own fault for getting arrogant at the last second. He won't get any sympathy from me."
With a snort, Naruto turned to the screen as names began to cycle through it. The next pair of names were soon selected.
Karui (Kumo) vs Kiba (Konoha)
"Alright! About time! I was getting so bored of waiting!" Kiba pumped a fist in the air when he saw his name get selected.
His teacher sent him a reprimanding look. "Kiba, take this seriously. You could overestimate yourself and wind up getting landed in the infirmary."
"Kurenai-sensei is correct. Is it not best to exercise caution when facing an unknown opponent?" Shino asked monotonously.
Kiba just waved them off. "Ah, don't worry about it! I'm sure this will be an easy win!" He grinned down at Akamaru. "Right Akamaru?"
"Arf!"
"Um…I-I-I think that y-you should be ca-c-careful, Kiba-kun…" Hinata said quietly. Naruto frowned as he noticed that she became even more nervous when the names were selected.
"Not you too, Hinata! Don't you have any faith in me?"
"I-it's not about h-having faith in y-you…"
Kurenai sent a sympathetic look at her before looking back to Kiba. "Like we said, take this seriously." She sent him a small smile. "Go down there and prove how much you've grown."
Kiba grinned widely. "You got it! But I'm sure you guys are just worrying too much." They were interrupted from saying anything further when they heard an angry yell from the other balcony.
"Enough! I'm about to put you in your place, mutt!" They turned to see who yelled.
It was a girl with dark skin and long spiky red hair and amber eyes. She was wearing a short-sleeved outfit with frilly edges and fishnet stockings. She also had on thigh-high boots with white soles and a Kumo forehead protector worn like a bandana. On her back was a katana.
Kiba glared back at her. "What was that?! I'll kick your ass!"
"I bet you couldn't even beat a kitten, dog boy!"
The boy next to her sighed. "What are you doing, Karui? What if the Inuzuka clan takes offense to your insults? They will be angry and then Konoha will be angry because it is such a prominent clan. And what if this leads to even more tension between us and them? That could lead to the fourth great shinobi war. What if we get deployed? Then we will ha-"
"Shut up, Omoi! Things will never get that bad!" Karui yelled at him.
Omoi had dark skin and short, spiky, white hair with dark eyes. His outfit was made up of a dark overlong shirt with a hood, red bandage hand guards, Kumo shin guards, and a black Kumo forehead protector. He also had a katana on his back. In his mouth was a lollipop.
"Don't do this now, you two. It totally isn't cool." The third member of the team said.
She had fair skin and blue eyes along with straight, blond hair that was framing her shoulders with an asymmetrical bob style that had her front bangs reaching her shoulder. She wore a grey outfit that was cut low, showing off some of her cleavage. Under this, she wore mesh armor. She also had on a short skirt, red hand guards, and high boots. She had a tantō strapped to her back. Her face was set in a stoic expression.
"But Samui, what if this starts a war? We would be forced to fight in it. Then we will be killed by an enemy shinobi. Our families will be forced to bury us at such a young age and then they wi-"
"Are you still talking?!" Karui rounded on Omoi as he started to ramble again. All three of the Kumo genin ignored the raps coming from Killer B.
Naruto just watched this entire scene with a sweat drop. 'Why is it so hard for me to come across normal people?'
Before they could start fighting some more, they were interrupted by a cough. "Both fighters, please enter the arena."
Karui gained a sheepish expression before smirking to her team. "I've got this in the bag. Be back in a second."
On the other side of the room, Kiba was growling. "I'll show her. Let's go Akamaru!"
Back in the Arena
"I hope you're ready to get your ass kicked, mutt." Karui taunted.
Kiba scoffed. "As if someone like you could actually beat me. Akamaru, hold off for a bit." He crouched low in preparation. Karui mimicked this by unsheathing her katana and getting into a battle stance.
Seeing that the two of them were ready, Hayate nodded and raised a hand. "Match five, begin!" He immediately jumped back.
"Let's do this!" Kiba rushed in as Karui stood there.
Karui smirked at him. "A frontal assault?" She side stepped him easily. "That won't cut it. But this will!" She brought her sword forward in a slash, making a light cut across Kiba's side. "Don't worry, I'll be sure not to damage you too badly!"
"Gah!" Kiba spun around and glared. "Let's see you keep up when I speed it up a bit!" He sped towards her again. Bam! Karui wasn't able to react quickly enough with the new speed. "What's the problem? Can't keep up?" Kiba went in repeatedly for continuous blows.
"Tch! Not at all!" Karui suddenly caught his fist with one hand, causing Kiba to freeze in surprise. "In fact, I'm doing just fine!" She pulled him forward and off balance before swiping at his chest with her katana.
"Ow! That thing freaking hurts!" Kiba yelled at her after rolling away with a new cut across his chest. He glared at her smirking face. "Akamaru, let's show her how we beat down our enemies!"
"Arf!" The two of them rushed in.
Karui jumped out of the way of a punch from Kiba, only to be forced to duck under the leaping dog. "As if it would be that easy!" Even though she said this, she was having some difficulty keeping up with the both of them. 'Fine then, time to play a little dirty!' She lashed out a hand as Akamaru leaped at her again. Karui managed to get a hold around one of the dog's legs.
"Akamaru! Let go of him!" Kiba demanded.
"Not on your life!" Karui returned before holding her katana up to the dog. "Just give it up now!"
Kiba glared at her, debating on his next move. After a moment, he smirked before reaching a hand into his pocket. After grabbing what he wanted, he pulled it out to reveal a red pill. He aimed and flicked one towards Akamaru's open mouth.
"As if!" Karui simply moved Akamaru out of the way. "Do you really think I would just stand here and wait for you to do that? Not happening!" She pressed the katana against Akamaru until he whimpered. "Once again, give up."
Her opponent growled. But after a moment, he slumped his shoulders with a sigh. "Fine, I give up. Just don't hurt him."
Hearing the forfeit, Hayate nodded before raising a hand towards Karui. "Winner, Ka-" He coughed again. "Karui of Kumo." Karui smirked as her team clapped before she released Akamaru, who immediately ran over to Kiba and whimpered.
The dog got a sad smile in return as Kiba picked him up. "Don't worry about it, buddy. It was my fault for not coming up with a better plan than to just rush in there." He stroked Akamaru's fur. "We'll win this thing next time." He looked up to Karui. "This won't go the same way the next time we fight."
"Sure it won't. Keep telling yourself that."
Back with the Others
"That's what he gets for just rushing in there without a plan. Akamaru nearly paid the price for it." Narumi said.
Yakumo watched as Kiba left to go get patched up. "Well, the hit and run tactics are often used by his clan, so it isn't really a surprise that he would go into that right away."
"But he should have changed it up a bit when he realized that his opponent could keep up with him." Naruto interjected.
"Yes…That is true, I suppose…"
Naruto nodded before looking up to the screen when the next names were being selected.
Misumi (Konoha) vs Gaara (Suna)
This pairing made Naruto grimace. 'Sucks to be that guy…' He looked across the room to where Gaara was standing and was not surprised to see both of his siblings eyeing the redhead warily. He looked at the other boy and noted that he looked nearly identical to his teammate, if not for the normal glasses instead of the sunglasses.
"What are your guesses for this match?" Naruto turned with a raised eyebrow to Misa. She gave him a bland look. "It is obvious by the look on your face that you are expecting this to be kind of one sided. So in favor of who?" This question gained the attention of the others and they turned to face Naruto.
In return Naruto just shook his head. "Gaara is going to finish this thing in a flash…And there's a real chance that this will get bloody." He turned back towards the arena as some of the genin paled.
Back in the Arena
Hayate looked in between the two fighters. "Are you both ready?" He asked, only to get one nod in return. Figuring that the silence was agreement, Hayate nodded and raised a hand. "Match six, begin!" He jumped back.
Misumi crouched in preparation of an attack, but nothing came. Gaara just stood there as sand slowly circled around him. "Oh? Do you want me to start? Fine then!" He sent a punch from where he was, and to everybody's shock, it elongated the distance between them.
Gaara just stood there as the fist came at him, not even bothering to uncross his arms. Once the fist made it to a foot away from him, it was obvious why. As if reacting to his thoughts, a wall of sand suddenly appeared and encased the hand. "What?!" Misumi tugged on his arm, but the sand wouldn't budge. "Dammit! Let me go!" Slowly, the sand began to crawl up his arm and towards his body.
Back with the Others
"That's the end." Naruto said quietly as he and the others watched the sand slowly make its way the rest of the distance.
Sai nodded. "It would be smart of him to give up now. It was over the moment that the sand touched him." The others glanced at them before looking back.
Back in the Arena
"Damn it! Why won't this sand let go?!" No matter how hard Misumi pulled, the sand would not let go of the hold it had on him. By now, it had covered his entire arm and was beginning to spread across his chest. Eventually, his entire upper body was covered.
Gaara, who had been silent up until this point, raised an open hand. Slowly, he began to close it into a fist. Misumi grunted as he felt the sand constrict around him. Naruto suppressed a shiver when he spotted the crazed smile forming on Gaara's face. "Scream. Let me hear you. Mother wants to hear you scream…"
"Gah! Get it off!" Misumi was having difficulty breathing by this point. Soon enough, it got to the point where he had collapsed to his knees. "I give! I give! Just get it off!"
Ignoring the pleading, Gaara continued squeezing, making Misumi scream more.
"That's enough!"
"Let him go!"
"He already gave up!"
Gaara ignored all of this as he just continued what he was doing. Whoosh! He froze when he felt a large amount of killing intent suddenly appear directly behind him. Gaara immediately abandoned what he was doing and whirled around with wide eyes, coming face to face with the stern expression of the Hokage.
Minato gave him an intense look. "That's enough. He has already given up. Call back your sand."
Everybody was silent for a minute as they watched the scene. Not immediately reacting, Gaara just stared at Minato. But just when Minato was about to try again, the sand pulled away from Misumi. The genin had passed out after the pressure had gotten to be too much.
Once all of his sand was back, Gaara disappeared in a swirl of sand before reappearing by his nervous team. Minato spent a minute to regard them before turning to Hayate as Misumi was rushed to the infirmary. "Select the next pair." Hayate nodded.
Back with the Others
"Tou-chan is such a badass!" Narumi grinned. Although slightly annoyed by the language used, Kushina let it go this time as she nodded in agreement.
Saito gulped. "What the heck is up with that guy? He's completely insane!" Many of the others nodded in agreement.
'Darkness will do that to a person…' Naruto thought to himself. He glanced at the screen when the next pair was determined.
Sakura (Konoha) vs Samui (Kumo)
Seeing that it was her turn, Sakura gulped. But after a moment, she adopted a determined expression and nodded. "Alright. I'm ready to go!"
The others were surprised to hear the resolve in her voice. Kakashi sent an eye smile at her. "I'm sure you will do great, Sakura."
This piece of encouragement got the pink haired girl to send him a grin while Saito slumped. "Why weren't you like that for me, Kakashi-sensei?" Saito lamented as Menma snickered.
"Hm? Did you say something?" This did nothing to improve Saito's sulky mood.
Ino smirked at Sakura. "Try not to embarrass yourself too much." This was rewarded with a light hit from Narumi.
After making sure that Ino would behave, she turned to Sakura. "Go out there and win, Sakura." Narumi said with a grin.
Sakura grinned back and turned to Sasuke, who was looking away. She opened her mouth, but stopped herself before she said anything. She shook her head and grinned at the others. "Wish me luck." And with that, she walked towards the stairs.
Back in the Arena
Sakura took her position across from Samui and smiled. "Sorry to keep you waiting."
The blond girl shook her head. "It's cool. This is the first time I've had peace of mind from my teammates…" This statement made Sakura sweat drop a bit before she got into a battle stance. Seeing her get ready, Samui did the same.
Hayate looked between them and raised his arm. "Seventh match, begin!" He jumped back.
The moment the go ahead was given, Sakura charged forward and took out a kunai. She made a swipe for the other girl, but was blocked. Sakura quickly spun around her opponent and tried to get a hit in on the other side.
Samui sent Sakura her usual blank look. "Is that really your best? Are you taking this seriously at all? Underestimating me isn't cool."
Sakura frowned at her. "I am taking this seriously." She tried to get another hit in, but it was easily blocked. "I'm taking this more seriously than I ever have before." She tried again, but was dodged.
The Kumo genin blinked. "Then why are you so weak?"
"It's because I am weak." This response stunned everybody a bit because of the harsh tone behind it. Sakura's eyes were lit with a new resolve that nobody had seen her with before. "I'm weak, so I am not able to beat you. I know that."
Samui tilted her head. "Then why don't you give up?"
Sakura glared. "Because I refuse to stay weak!" She rushed at Samui again, but all her blows missed. "I know I won't win this. I know that even if I land a hit, it won't do much to you. I get that. But I refuse to just back down and sit on the sidelines again while everybody else fights!" This declaration further stunned everyone. "All I have ever done is sit on the sidelines. I won't do that anymore! I was so useless in the forest! While everybody else was fighting and getting hurt, I couldn't do a thing!" Another blow was deflected. "It won't happen again!" She sent a powerful strike at Samui, but it was dodged when she jumped back. Sakura stood there panting as she watched her opponent.
Back with the Others
The Konoha genin watched with wide eyes as Sakura yelled her frustrations. Narumi gained a sad look. "Sakura…"
"Wow…I had no idea she was that frustrated about it all…" Yakumo said quietly. The jōnin just stood back as they watched the fight silently. Even Kakashi had put his book down to openly watch.
Menma and Saito traded wide eyed looks as they chose to stay silent. Naruto smirked. 'Good to know she was serious about not staying on the sidelines anymore.'
Ino just stared at the scene in silence with wide eyes.
Back in the Arena
Samui just stood there and watched her. After staying silent for a moment, a smirk slowly spread across her face. "That's pretty cool of you." She got into a battle stance. "Fine then. I will beat you down until you won't be able to get back up."
Sakura grinned and got back into a battle stance. "Good, that's how I want it to be!" She rushed back in and sent another slice at her opponent. Samui side stepped it and responded with a punch to the side. Sakura cried out before gritting her teeth and retaliating with a kick that was easily blocked. Samui then used the opening and countered with her own kick.
For the next few minutes, everyone watched as Sakura was beat around by Samui. No matter how many times she was knocked down, she would continue to just stand back up again. Samui had started with a smirk, but it slowly changed into a small concerned frown. "I think you should forfeit. You have proved yourself enough, it's cool to know when to stop."
Sakura panted as she pushed herself back to her feet. "No…Not yet. I told you, I will keep going…until I can't get…back up." She finally managed to get her feet, but she swayed a bit. "I can still stand…so I can still fight!" She sluggishly rushed at Samui.
Seeing this, Samui frowned some more and decided on her next course of action. Once Sakura was close enough, she dodged the kunai and stepped out of the way. She then lashed her hand out and grabbed a handful of Sakura's hair. She followed this up by unsheathing her tantō and pointing it at Sakura's back. "What will you do now? I have you subdued, will you submit?" Samui really hoped this worked, she didn't want to hurt the girl any further.
Sakura panted a bit as she kneeled with her back against the blade. She shook her head. "No. It isn't over yet…"
Samui frowned more. "What are you going to do? It's cool of you to be this resilient, but I have complete control." She couldn't see it, but Sakura smirked.
"There's still one thing I can do." Before anything else could be said, Sakura lashed out the hand she was holding the kunai with. Eyes all around widened as she hacked off her own hair. Sakura rolled forward and spun around with a grin. "It looks to me like I can still fight. So let's keep going!"
Samui just stared at her for a moment before looking back at the hair she was gripping. The smirk soon came back as she dropped the hair and shook her head. "You are too stubborn." She sighed. "It wouldn't be cool of me to insult your determination." Sakura tensed as Samui crouched. "I will do as you ask and make it so you can't get back up."
Before Sakura could react in any way, Samui blurred forward towards her. Wham! Sakura hunched over with wide eyes as the pommel of the tonto was thrust into her gut. Slowly, Sakura's eyes began to close as her body lost its strength. Before she could hit the ground, Samui caught her.
The Kumo genin sighed before smiling down at Sakura a bit. She looked up when Hayate walked over to them. After checking up on Sakura, he nodded and raised a hand. "Winner, Samui of Kumo."
Back with the Others
The entire room was silent. But after a minute, Naruto began to clap. Quickly following his lead, Misa and her team did the same. Narumi and Yakumo soon joined them. Eventually, everyone from Konoha had joined in. Even Sasuke was giving some reluctant claps.
Yūgao looked down at Sakura from her position. "That was impressive. Maybe not the combat, but the resolve shown was really something." Kushina nodded in agreement.
Ino had been silent throughout the entire fight. Her mind was racing with the words that Sakura had said and the determination that her rival had shown. She and the others turned when Samui walked over to them while carrying Sakura.
Samui nodded to them and set Sakura down against the wall before looking at Kakashi. "You are her sensei?" She asked, getting a nod in return. "Cool. She is fine, but she will need a little bit to wake up."
"Hm…Well, thank you for bringing her over here." Samui nodded to Kakashi's thanks before turning and leaving to go join her team.
Shikamaru sighed. "Troublesome. Who would have thought that Sakura would be able to push herself that far…?" He slumped more than he usually did. "Now it will seem even worse if I just give up right away…"
Misa sent him an amused look. "Well, look alive. We're about to find out who is next." The group turned towards the screen as the names stopped.
Ino (Konoha) vs Kankurō (Suna)
Asuma grinned down at his female student. "Well Ino, I do believe it is your turn." When he got no response, his grin dimmed a bit. "Ino?" He got no response as she just continued to stare at Sakura. He was about to place a hand on her shoulder, but she snapped to attention before he could.
"I'll do it! I'm not backing down either!" She gained a determined expression before turning and walking towards the stairs without any further words.
Back in the Arena
Kankurō smirked at her as she approached. "Well, I guess I got lucky. You won't even last a minute." This remark got him a glare in return.
Ino was silent as she looked at him. "Maybe, but I'll be sure to kick your ass before that!" She turned her gaze back up towards the others. After a moment of thought, she took out a kunai. Before anyone could question what she was doing, she brought it up to her long hair and cut it, surprising everyone. She looked at the fist holding her hair. "If Sakura can do it, so can I. I probably won't win this, but I will be sure to at least make you suffer!" She threw the hair to the side and went into a battle stance. Kankurō's smirk grew as he took the large object off his back and propped it up next to him.
Seeing that both of them were ready, Hayate nodded before raising a hand. "Match eight, begin!" He jumped out of the way as Ino rushed in. Kankurō waited in place as she got closer. Once she was close enough, Ino launched a strike at him with the kunai, but it was easily deflected.
"Wow, you really suck. I won't even need to use anything to beat you!" Ino growled at the taunt as she tried to land a kick, only for it to be blocked. "Here, let me show you how that should have worked." Wham!
A kick was sent at Ino and she was unable to completely move out of the way in time. Kankurō's leg managed to catch her side, forcing her to stumble back. Not wishing to give her any time to recover, Kankurō pursued her and launched more attacks.
"Come on! Can't you keep up?" Ino scowled as she was forced to back up from the relentless onslaught of attacks. "This is just too easy!"
Back with the Others
"Come on! You can do it, Ino! Teach that jerk some manners!" Narumi's grip on the railing tightened as she saw another blow get in and land on Ino. She really didn't like that Suna genin! She whirled around on the rest of team 10. "And why aren't you worried?" Asuma just sent her an amused look while Shikamaru just looked bored. Chōji was the only one to respond.
"I'm not because Shikamaru isn't." The Nara sighed when a glare was pinned on him.
"And why aren't you?"
"Troublesome…Just pay attention to the fight. Ino isn't out of this yet. Things are actually going how she wants them to." The others blinked at that. Narumi sent him a confused look before turning back to the fight.
Back in the Arena
"You ready to give up yet?" Ino growled when she heard the obnoxious voice again.
"Not on your life!" A smirk formed on Ino's face. "But I think you're about to."
"Wha-"
"There!" Immediately as she yelled this, Kankurō's entire body froze in place. He showed visible signs of struggling, but he was unable to move a muscle.
"What?! What did you do to me?!" Kankurō demanded.
A victorious grin came to Ino's face as she panted a bit. "Oh, nothing much. Just led you into a trap."
"What trap?!"
Ino shrugged. "Just the one where I use my hair to send my chakra to you and paralyze you." An impish smile was on her lips. Kankurō gaped. He was standing on the hair that Ino had thrown earlier.
Back with the Others
Shikamaru sighed and leaned back with a small smirk. He looked at Narumi. "You see? Nothing to worry about. Ino had that planned out."
The other genin watched with wide eyes as Kankurō tried to struggle some more. A low hum sounded from Kakashi as he kept his nose in his book. "That was well thought out of her. But it relied a little too much on her opponent actually engaging in a taijutsu battle…" Asuma sighed and nodded in agreement.
Back in the Arena
"Now then. Do you give up?" Ino asked Kankurō with a smirk.
"Like hell I do!"
Shaking her head with a sigh, Ino responded. "Well, let me see if I can get you to change your mind." She raised her hands and formed a hand seal towards Kankurō.
"Hey, what are you doing?!"
"Oh, nothing much! Mind Body Switch!" Ino's form immediately slumped to her knees as Kankurō went rigid.
Hayate, knowing what this probably meant, looked at Kankurō. "Do you forfeit?" He asked.
Everyone was silent as they waited for a response. Kankurō soon turned to Hayate and opened his mouth. "Hell no."
Back with the Others
Shikamaru jerked forward when he heard the reply that Kankurō gave Hayate. "What?! What the heck is Ino doing? She has it in the bag!"
Behind him, Asuma was frowning. "I don't think that's Ino…"
Back in the Arena
Over by the wall of the arena, the bundle that Kankurō had set down began to move. All eyes were instantly glued to it as a hand escaped the bindings. Soon, a person worked his way out of the wrapping. Many of the genin had their eyes widen in surprise when a smirking Kankurō emerged.
"Wow, it's a good thing I came prepared…" He raised his hand and flexed a finger. Instantly, the other Kankurō jumped away from Ino and to his side. "Man, you gotta love puppets." He turned to Hayate. "Does this mean I win? She apparently took herself out with a failed technique…"
Glancing back to Ino, Hayate nodded and raised a hand to Kankurō. "Winner, Kankurō of Suna."
Back with the Others
Narumi slumped as Asuma went down to retrieve his student. "Aw, that sucks. It would have worked if that guy hadn't pulled something like that…" Yakumo frowned a bit in thought.
"But what did he mean by puppets?" She asked.
Yūgao turned to answer her question. "One of the things that Suna is well known for is their puppetry. They make these puppets that are rigged with a vast amount of weapons, often coated with poison, and then control them from a distance using chakra threads." She gestured to Kankurō. "It looks like he disguised his puppet as himself in order to misdirect his opponent. The fact that he wasn't found out right away shows the amount of skill he possesses." Understanding, Yakumo nodded.
'But really, both Sakura and Ino surprised me with their performances. I didn't think they would do that well. Sakura for her tenacity, and Ino for her thinking on the fly. She obviously thought of that only after seeing Sakura cut her hair.' Naruto blinked back into awareness as the screen stopped on the next two names.
There we go! All done with Chapter 23!
Just kill me now. Killer B is a pain in the ass to write. I think his character is awesome, but I just don't like to be the one to write him.
Oh goody. More fights I have to write up… -_- I don't want to be here forever, so I kept these relatively short. None of these were really that important, so I had no problem doing that. I hope nobody minds.
Giving Saito a combat style similar to Tenten's was a really obvious choice to me. For those of you who haven't seen/read Zero no Tsukaima, Saito is the MC of that series and the familiar chosen to be Gandálfr. This gives him the ability to use any weapon proficiently, hence why I made him a weapons specialist in this.
The canon fight between Sasuke and Yoroi was pretty quick, and that was when Sasuke had just finished the second exam and was still tired. I don't see how a fully rested Sasuke would have trouble beating him.
Questions? Comments? Concerns? Post a review!
Until next time,
Kog6943