Getting this out, like the others, before Christmas. Hopefully another soon
This is an Older Naruto fic. It is not a crossover, but some aspects of Mortal Kombat and Daredevil are involved. The prologue should give you an idea as to why
I write to develop my penmanship, so any tips are helpful
I don't own Naruto
Trading Destiny
Chapter 7
Hinata was scared. Her team had found the scroll they needed and were making their way to the tower. Before they got there, however, they were intercepted by the Sound Genin cell. These three were obviously stronger than they let on.
It happened in a blink of an eye. One minute the trio were standing in front of them, the next Hinata found herself on the ground, looking up into the fearsome eyes of the Sound Kunoichi. The kunai descended towards her throat. She was about to scream, before she saw the eyes of the Kunoichi widen as she slumped to the ground.
Hinata saw the chakra. She knew who had saved her. She was both relieved and ashamed. She closed her eyes and pretended to sleep, tears slowly falling from her eyes. As the Heir to Konoha's strongest clan, she should have been stronger.
Naruto had arrived just in time. He had left his team with a shadow clone and proceeded to continue with his mission. He had sensed that team 8 were on their way to the tower, but noted that they were about to come face to face with the team from Sound.
He had saved the girl first, she had potential, but he knew she had not fully developed yet. In essence, she was the weakest of Team 8.
Naruto looked at Shino next. He was in a close quartered Taijutsu fight with Zaku. Both had kunai in hand, and were attacking, blocking and counterattacking each other. Naruto was surprised by the young Aburame.
The two jumped apart and stood at a distance. Zaku wore a smirk, whilst Shino fixed his glasses in place. "You're pretty good for a tree hugger." Zaku exclaimed.
"It seems that Sound has strong shinobi." Shino responded, getting ready to reengage the sound nin. At that point, Zaku raised his hands, smirk still on his face. A large blast of soundwave came from the holes in Zaku's hand, going straight for Shino.
Shino quickly dodged, jumping out of the way of the blast. Shino was blinded for a split second as he was dodging Zaku's attack. After he gained his bearings, he saw Zaku on the ground, screaming in pain. Both of his arms looked broken. It happened in a blink of an eye, and Shino had no idea how it happened.
Naruto turned his attention to the final pair facing off. Kiba was using taijutsu, but he looked slow in comparison to his opponent.
Dosu looked over to find that both his teammates were down. He had no idea how it happened. Thinking quickly, Dosu released his full power on Kiba in his next punch. Kiba dodged, but still found himself affected. Naruto was also affected by the sound, but hid it well.
Dosu was running in for the killing blow, but felt the need to stop and jump back. A kunai had landed right where he was running to. Looking around, he saw the shinobi standing on a tree, facing away from Dosu, looking as innocent as can be.
Dosu recognised Naruto at once. "I'll leave, just let me get my team and go." Dosu exclaimed, before disappearing and collecting his two teammates.
Naruto was surprised. He didn't think that the Sound nin would be concerned for his teammates. This he found very interesting.
Naruto looked once more at Kiba and then at Shino. They were both good for their age. He looked at the bluenette last, before disappearing in a gust of wind.
Shino had noticed the figure prior to him engaging Dosu. He was impressed with Naruto. For a blind nin to cause fear in his enemies. He was sure that he could have won the fight against Zaku, but he didn't think he could have handled the three of them alone. Kiba was too brash and Hinata had low self-esteem. He assumed both would change, but was left wanting for better teammates.
The final day had arrived and all the teams that passed the second exam assembled in the miniature arena. There were 8 teams in the mix. Team 8 and Team 10 had arrived at the tower on the third day. They were split by an hour or so. This caused great relief for Naruto, as his major assignment was accomplished and he easily replaced his clone.
The Sound trio had arrived on the fourth day whilst the Konoha team with Kabuto arrived early on the last.
"Congratulations for passing the second phase of the exam." Came the voice of the Sandaime Hokage, catching Naruto's attention. He still disliked the Hokage, but a ninja is what he is, so he had to do as he was bidden… for now. "You all did well to make it this far." The Hokage continued.
Naruto zoned out. He had a bad habit of doing so, but it happened every once in a while. Instead of listening to the Hokage, he started observing those around him. He stayed still, and took note of everyone in the room.
He felt that chakra again. He looked in the direction of the Sound teams' sensei. It was him. The first time he felt it, it was coming from one of the Kusa nin. Now it was the sensei of the Sound team.
"Hokage-sama, please allow me the honour." Exclaimed a Jonin. He stepped forward and introduced himself. "I am Gekko Hayate, I will be the proctor for the third part of the exam." Here Hayate coughed, before regaining his voice. "This point forward will consist of one on one battles. If you feel the need to drop out, do so now. Your doing so will not affect your teammates standings at all." Hayate coughed once more, as he waited for the Genin in front of him to make up their minds on whether they'd stay and compete. No one decided to drop out, which was interesting.
"Well then, before the actual third round of the Chunin exams commence, we need to establish who each of you will be fighting. As there are eight teams here, the need to decrease the numbers is a must." Hayate coughed once more before continuing. "This is a preliminary round, where the winners will progress to the third round of the Chunin exams."
"What do you mean preliminary round, aren't we going to fight in the third round." One of the participants asked. Naruto knew who it was, but zoned in to listen to Hayate.
"Yes that is true, but as there will be guest of the highest esteem attending the exam, they wouldn't want to be there watching the exams all day." Hayate coughed again before continuing his explanation. "Many are busy, and each fight may take longer than necessary to complete." He concluded, answering the young Genin's question.
"Now each name will be on the board, those who aren't fighting, could you please retreat to the balconies to observe." Hayate ended with a cough. The screen flashed and he called the first two fighters.
"Uchiha Sasuke vs. Akado Yoroi." Hayate intoned, motioning for the rest of the group to move up the stairs.
The fight was over before it began. Yoroi moved in for the kill, only to get pummelled with taijutsu, before throwing a punch. Sasuke didn't even activate his sharingan.
"Winner Uchiha Sasuke." Hayate exclaimed, before breaking down in a coughing fit.
Sasuke calmly walked up the stairs and stood with his teammates. Their sensei was not present for this portion of the exam, but it didn't faze any of the members of Team Danzo.
"Second match is Aburame Shino vs Abumi Zaku." Hayate exclaimed, waiting for the next opponents to enter the arena.
Zaku was still tender from the beating he received. One of his arms was in a sling, and he looked a little worse for wear. Shino, however, looked calm and composed, ready to do what a shinobi does best.
"I will give you a chance to forfeit." Shino stated, standing still and waiting for the proctor to begin the match.
Zaku smirked, "Why don't you. This should be an easy victory." He exclaimed.
Hayate looked at both, before signalling the match to begin. At that instant, Shino closed the distance quickly and threw a wild punch at Zaku. Zaku dodged, and jumped back a safe distance.
"Last chance." Shino stated once more.
"My thoughts exactly." Zaku responded, aiming his unbroken arm at Shino.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you." Shino exclaimed, motioning behind Zaku. He turned slightly and saw the insects slowly making their way towards his being.
"Hmph, always good to have an ace in the hole." Zaku exclaimed, before stretching the arm in the sling and pointing it towards the swarm of bugs.
Zaku smirked as he performed his jutsu. In that instant, his arms imploded. A block in the airway causing an explosion.
Zaku's arms were useless, as he fell to the ground screaming. Hayate had called the match at that point.
"I told you to forfeit. You decided to continue." Shino exclaimed to his opponent, fully aware that he was not paying attention.
The med nins rushed in to carry Zaku off to be treated. At that moment Hayate coughed. Gaining the attention of those present.
As the next line up showed on the screen, Naruto observed his two teammates. Sakura looked slightly pale, with Shiho similarly feeling ill.
"First time witnessing something like that?" Naruto asked.
Sakura looked at him and answered first. "Not in the hospital. I just hate bugs." Sakura exclaimed, a cold shiver drifting through her being. Shiho didn't bother answering the question. She didn't know how she felt about the ordeal.
"The next match is between Nara Shikamaru and Tsuchi Kin." Hayate exclaimed, before breaking down in a coughing fit.
The match was over relatively easy, with many Konoha nin astonished to see the lazy Nara taking the win. He had used his surroundings well and turned the Kunoichi's jutsu against her.
Shiho saw the thought process of Shikamaru, and was slightly impressed.
The screen flashed once more, before stopping at the next set of names.
"Yamanaka Ino versus Sai." Hayate stated, holding strong and not coughing this time.
The opponents entered the arena and looked at each other. Sai had his usual creepy smile whilst looking at Ino. "Good luck… Beautiful." He exclaimed, smile still evident on his face.
Ino had the decency to blush slightly, before anger finally took a hold of her. "Why so shallow?" She asked, hoping to get a rise from him.
"Begin." Hayate stated, before jumping clear.
Sai stood in his spot and waited for Ino to make the first move. Ino too remained stationary, wanting Sai to make the first move.
"First one to move will lose." A voice whispered, drifting with the wind towards Naruto's ears. He realised it was the young Inuzuka, whispering to his teammate Shino.
At that instant, Sai moved at a quick pace and closed the gap to Ino. 'Sorry beautiful' he mouthed before knocking Ino unconscious with one blow.
"Winner Sai." Hayate stated at the conclusion of the match. The Genin stood in silence as they waited for the next match to begin. The screen flashed again stopping on another set of names.
"Kankuro and Tsurugi Misumi, please come to the floor." Hayate stated, coughing slightly at the beginning and the end of his statement.
Kankuro arrived on the floor and tossed his luggage to one side. Misumi discounted it and rushed in for the kill as Hayate announced the beginning of the match.
Misumi wrapped his arms around Kankuro's neck advising him to forfeit on the threat of losing his life. Kankuro just smirked. In that instant, Misumi arm's constricted, crushing the neck of his foe.
Misumi though the match won and was about to disentangle himself, when he saw the image of Kankuro disappear being replaced with that of a wooden puppet. The puppet latched onto Misumi whilst Kankuro appeared from the bag on the ground. He offered Misumi the same ultimatum, causing him to forfeit, and leaving Kankuro the winner.
Kankuro left the arena and stood next to his sister, looking at the large screen, waiting for the next match.
At the same instant, Naruto burst out in laughter, causing everyone to look in his direction. Shiho and Sakura saw him nod towards the screen, where their names were plastered for everyone to see.
Seeing their names, the two Kunoichi looked at each other, before making their way to the arena.
"Next match is between Haruno Sakura and Shiho." Hayate announced. "Begin." He shouted before jumping a safe distance away.
"Well, good luck." Shiho stated, before getting into a fighting stance.
"Likewise." Sakura responded before pulling out a few shuriken and throwing it at Shiho.
Shiho pulled a kunai out in one hand and a few shuriken in the other. The shuriken she threw at Sakura, whilst using her kunai to block each of the shuriken Sakura threw at her. Sakura almost got hit with the shuriken, but pulled her kunai out at the last second, blocking each projectile.
They both ran towards each other and engage in a taijutsu match, each brandishing, blocking and counter attacking with kunai in hand.
Shiho tried to jump back to get some space but get stabbed in the ribs. The hit punctured and damaged her lungs. She hopped back and looked at Sakura in shocked horror.
Sakura looked at Shiho with an evil glint. Shiho looked around but couldn't see anyone. She looked at Naruto only to find him gone. She looked back at Sakura who appeared as a giant, walking towards her with kunai in hand.
Shiho put her hands together and disrupted the flow of her chakra, causing the illusion to disappear.
"Forfeit." Sakura stated holding a kunai at Shiho's throat.
"So it was an illusion." Shiho exclaimed.
When Hayate began the match Sakura walked casually up to Shiho pulling a kunai from her leg. She walked behind Shiho and held the kunai directly to her throat.
Naruto smirked. He was observing the Konoha Genin and noticed the fully conscious Ino looking at her rival with a confused and shocked look.
"How did Sakura do that?" She asked her sensei. "I mean she just walked up to her and pulled out a kunai."
Asuma took a drag of his cigarette and blew out the smoke. "Genjutsu. She is actually good." He responded, noting how Ino's stature changed. This was reality and Ino got a taste of how strong someone could be when they put in the hard work.
"Sorry Sakura." Shiho whispered, before turning into earth and exploding.
Sakura jumped away from the explosion just in time, hands covering her face, obscuring her view from her enemy. She felt the shrapnel embed itself into her arms as she landed. She looked up when she felt the tip of a kunai at her neck.
"Tables turned." Sakura smirked. "I forfeit." She stated after a second.
"Winner by forfeit, Shiho." Hayate stated.
The girls both turned to each other and offered the sign for peace before leaving the floor to join Naruto on the railings.
"Good match, you both are improving." Naruto stated as the screen flashed once more.
"Tenten versus Temari." Hayate stated, waiting for the two Kunoichi to enter the arena.
The match was one sided with the Suna Kunoichi coming out as the victor. She used her fan to stop all of Tenten's attack. The end of the match was the most interesting though. The young Konoha Genin, Lee, rescued his unconscious teammate from falling onto the Suna Kunoichi's fan.
"Hmph, weak." Temari said as she disappeared back to the balcony. Lee placed his teammates into the hands of the medic nin, before joining his other teammate and sensei on the balcony.
The screen flashed again gaining the attention of the present Genin. Naruto was looking in the direction of his sister. Trying to gauge her reaction as her name popped up on the screen.
He had tried to speak to her on a variety of different occasions over the past few days. Unfortunately, she just didn't want to speak to him, at all. Every time he approached, she would make herself scarce. Naruto would have found it funny, if he weren't trying to create some bonds with her.
Now his head followed her movements as she made her way to the arena floor. "Good luck." He whispered, as the wind delivered his message to her. At that moment, Kira tensed for a split second. It was unnoticeable to all barring the most well trained shinobi.
"Next match is between Uzumaki Kira and Inuzuka Kiba." Hayate announced. Kira took a deep breath as Kiba and Akamaru got in their fighting position.
