Disclaimer: I do NOT own Naruto. Kishimoto Masashi does…
"spoken"
"as spoken by Kyuubi or Gamabunta"
-thought-
-as thought by Kyuubi or Gamabunta-
Awakening of the Slumbering Beast
Chapter 5: The Byakugan unleashed… and sadly the super-pervert as well…
They milled about, some slightly nervous while others radiated confidence. Naruto looked around and noticed that surprisingly few teams had made it to the tower in the time given. He himself included there were only twenty one people gathered in the large room. Actually the only people he hadn't seen during his stay in the tower and the only new arrivals were Kabuto and his two teammates. -Seven teams, we were cut down from twenty seven to just seven… that forest certainly lived up to its name.- He also took note of the assembled Jounin and the Hokage who began to explain the reasons behind the Chuunin selection exams. Much to his discomfort he also noticed Anko who was watching him with a hungry, predatory gleam in her eyes… just like she had when she was licking his bloody cheek. He struggled to suppress the overwhelming urge to shudder.
He tuned out the Hokage and concentrated instead on Gai and Kakashi who had a much more interesting talk. He mentally snickered at Gai's reaction to Kakashi's innocent "Huh? You said something?" and began to plot out possible ways to use the same tactic on Sasuke. His focus snapped back to the old man who was about to begin explaining the rules for the third exam when a sickly looking man with a bad cough interrupted and requested that he as a referee would be allowed to explain the rules and such. He then launched into an explanation as to how there were too many participants to make it and there was a need for a preliminary. Interrupted by several coughs he said "Umm… those who are not feeling well enough to fight and those who feel like quitting please come forward so we may begin the preliminaries immediately."
There was a slight murmur that ran through the assembled Genin. Naruto was, quite frankly, surprised when only Kabuto raised his hand to indicate that he would withdraw from the competition. Naruto began to loudly question as to why Kabuto would give up so easily and received and answer of "I'm sorry Naruto-kun but I'm all beat up and I haven't been able to hear with my left ear since that scuffle with the Sound nins…" which was something Naruto didn't quite believe. -Thickbrows took the same hit, twice even, and his ears are working just fine. And for that beat up part, well you look about as fresh as everyone else here. Humpf… maybe you are a seventh time veteran because you lack guts…- Without further interruptions Kabuto was removed from the contest… only twenty Genins remained.
Naruto watched carefully as Gekkou Hayate, as the Jounin had introduced himself, began to explain the rules of the preliminary matches. There was something about this Jounin that didn't just add up, he looked as he had one leg in the grave already and yet… "That one is clever I think. The cough is genuine but not the result of a disease or sickness… and the dying look he has is probably a genjutsu that makes him look sick. You already noticed that he doesn't have the smell of sickness about him." This caused Naruto to pause. "Smell of sickness?" he asked silently only to hear Kyuubi snort disdainfully. "You will understand when you visit a hospital… anyway enough of this kit or you will miss the fun rules like 'there are no rules' and such."
He began to shiver with anticipation, like so many others while some shivered in trepidation, when the scoreboard that would decide the matches began to roll through names. Naruto felt mildly annoyed that it had to be Sasuke-teme who got to fight in the first match. Hayate coughed "The first fight is between Akado Yoroi and Uchiha Sasuke… are the contestants ready?" when both indicated that they were, Hayate cleared his throat and said "Well then, we'll begin the first match shortly so would everyone except the two participants move to the upper level…"
As everyone began to walk towards the stairs Kakashi brushed behind Sasuke and whispered. "Sasuke, remember… that your own will is what partially keeps Orochimaru's curse in check. And if you activate that curse… the match will be instantly stopped and you will be placed under ANBU guard." This caused Sasuke to falter. They were again trying to limit his growth but still, he didn't want to be removed from the contest until he had the chance to beat Naruto to a pulp. The dobe deserved to be dropped down a few notches and it was his job as the rookie of the year and his teammate to do it. Smirking confidently he took a loose ready stance and faced his opponent.
Up in the stands everyone had settled down to watch the match. Sakura was rather worried about her 'Sasuke-kun' who had been colder than usual after their encounter with Orochimaru. He'd been almost hostile when she'd tried to talk with him. -Maybe we shouldn't have told about the bite… it was Sasuke-kun's business after all and he is strong enough to know best himself.- She sighed again, she was so confused. She believed in Sasuke but on the other hand the look of concern on Kakashi-sensei's face when Naruto had told about the incident had been noticeable, even with the mask. And then there was the seal that was… -Why am I doubting Sasuke-kun, he's one of us that has the best chance of coming a Chuunin isn't he. Not even Naruto can compete with him… can he?- She shoved the doubt aside and began to cheer as Sasuke delivered the first blow.
Down in the arena Sasuke though he was doing rather well, he'd cornered Yoroi using his superior speed to deflect several shuriken thrown at him and then ran in and grappled with him. Only to have Yoroi start draining his chakra reserves with some weird technique. Kicking him off to make some distance Sasuke began to formulate a plan… good thing he had been able to watch that weirdo Lee practice with Naruto. Flashing through several hand seals he performed 'Katon: Hosenka no Jutsu' (Fire style: Phoenix flower technique) and tossed in a few shurikens while blowing the small balls of flame towards Yoroi. Using the opportunity to attack the now distracted man he quickly ducked under his guard and sent him flying with a swift kick to the chin. He then pushed himself up into air and under Yoroi's shadow and delivered a swift spin kick that Yoroi was able to block. Undaunted he spun again and this time punched Yoroi and then punched him again launching the Genin towards the floor below. Just as they were about to land Sasuke delivered a final spin kick and yelled out the name of 'his' new attack "Shishi Rendan!" (Lion combo)
Blood spurted from Yoroi's mouth as Sasuke stood up and dusted himself off and turned to flash a satisfied smirk towards Naruto. -Chew on that dobe… the power of the Sharingan is something you definitely can't beat. It was quite amusing how you tried to keep me from gaining power after you noticed that I was watching your little training sessions, you should feel priviledged that I would use you to gain power.- He smirked again when he heard Hayate declare him as the winner of the first match and the first one to pass the prelims. Feeling satisfied he headed towards the stairs to watch the rest of the matches. -I just hope the dobe draws someone weak so he'll win… I so want to put him to his place in front of a large audience.-
Up in the stands Naruto was seething. So Sasuke-teme had been able to copy Lee's prized technique before Naruto had noticed him skulking about. He really didn't mind using Sharingan or his own Shinkugan to break down and copy techniques from the enemy, but somehow it just felt wrong that Sasuke would sneak in and steal a technique that had taken Lee countless of hours of hard work to achieve. He shook his head in disgust at Sasuke's self satisfied look and the way several unnamed fangirls fawned at him as if he'd done something marvellous. -I just hope I get to fight him in the third exam… He needs to be dropped down a few pegs… no strike that few dozen pegs.-
Lee was having similar thoughts. He felt himself somehow slighted, not because Sasuke had copied the initial stage of his technique but because the way he'd done it. Lee knew that Naruto was able to perform 'Konoha Senpuu' perfectly because of his 'bloodline limit' but he didn't care. Naruto had worked hard to achieve that level of skill, maybe not hard as he had himself but still. He sighed in a tired tone -Uchiha Sasuke your Sharingan is truly fearsome but the way you use it is an affront to those who work hard. To copy your enemy's techniques is one thing, to spy on your comrades is another…-
Their musings and the squeals of delight from Sasuke fanclub, namely Ino and Sakura, were cut short when the names of the next contestants appeared on the scoreboard 'Zaku Abumi vs. Aburame Shino'. Naruto watched as Shino made his way down the stairs towards the arena and pondered the mystery that was this silent boy. Shino was the second person on his own age group that knew about the Kyuubi, but still… he was friendly enough but about as silent as a grave. Seriously he'd said more on their initial meeting than he'd said during the rest of the time they'd spent together. Naruto sighed as he remembered all that the bug user had said to him on the balcony and again became keenly aware of the slight scent of jasmine that had haunted him the past three days. Shaking his head clear of any thoughts not concerning the preliminaries he tried, with partial success, to focus on the fights.
Down on the arena Shino had already began his match with Zaku and had managed to corner him with a swarm of Kikai bugs and forced Zaku to uncover his second arm. Shino's expression didn't change when Zaku's other arm blew off and the other was torn apart when he tried to use his 'Zankuuha' (Decapitating Air Wave) to blow away the bugs and Shino. When the boy was declared winner and made his way up to the stands Naruto could only gape at what he surmised was the most collected person he'd ever seen. He even shivered slightly at the thought of being surrounded by a large swarm of chakra eating bugs but was reassured by Kyuubi who was certain that the bugs would stand no chance against their foxfire.
The next match was called and it was to be between Gaara's brother Kankuro and Kabuto's teammate Tsurugi Misumi. The match seemed to end before it even got properly started when the stretchy Leaf Genin broke Kankuro's neck… 'Kankuro' in response turned his head completely around and was revealed to be a puppet that proceeded to squeeze the consciousness out of other contestant. After being declared winner he collected his puppet Karasu and joined the rest of his team on the balcony.
Naruto's hopes of getting to fight on the next round were dashed when the scoreboard announced the next match up. He raised an eyebrow when he read the names of Haruno Sakura and Yamanaka Ino on the board. -Two of the scariest girls I know… I wonder if Sakura-chan is able to win against Ino.- The girls in question were descending the stairs together all the while staring lightning bolts at each other. The fight was a long one, they exchanged blow for blow, insult for insult until finally Ino caught Sakura with her 'Shintenshin no Jutsu' (Mind Body Switch technique) only to be foiled by the raging 'inner Sakura' who, because of Naruto's cheers, reared 'her' very scary head and forced Ino, to everyone's amazement, out from Sakura's mind. By now both Sakura and Ino were exhausted and both decided to make a last ditch attempt to beat the other down… they both succeeded in quite a dramatic double KO.
While Naruto and Team Ten were making checkups on Sakura and Ino, Lee was pumping his fists in the air cheering wildly at Tenten who was matched up against Temari. Despite the sheer volume of both cheers and throwing weapons summoned, Tenten was losing badly against the blonde kunoichi from Sunagakure. After a spectacular shower of sharp projectiles got yet again deflected Temari seemed simply to vanish only to reappear and create a miniature tornado that trapped poor Tenten in it. The fight ended when Temari 'caught' the falling girl with her folded fan making her back arch into an unhealthy angle.
After she was declared winner Temari threw Tenten towards to a wall only to have her caught by Lee who'd jumped to grab his fallen teammate. Temari's tough girl exterior crumbled slightly when Naruto jumped down to restrain Lee from attacking her, while staring her with those damnable red eyes, she shivered when she remembered Gaara's reaction to the loud blonde. -He seems to care about his fellow Genins… maybe I shouldn't piss him off. The consequences might be… unpleasant if I have to face him in the third exam.-
Shrugging to himself Hayate announced the next match. "Will Nara Shikamaru and Kin Tsuchi please step down so that we can begin the 6th match." Naruto yawned as he watched Shikamaru and the Sound girl make their way down to the arena, he was quite frankly bored by all this waiting and none of Kyuubi's "Patience is a virtue kit!" comments really helped. Sasuke was boring too, he kept his eyes on the arena and only scoffed at the level of skill that these 'inferior ones' exhibited. Only people he was looking forward to seeing were Lee, Gaara and Neji, and the way things were going one of them would fight, and win he predicted, against Naruto thusly robbing him the chance to humiliate the dobe himself.
Naruto didn't really care anymore, all his previous boredom had been blow away when Shikamaru used his 'Kagemane no Jutsu' (Shadow Bind Technique) and knocked Kin out by smashing her head to the wall. Well that really didn't affect his boredom but the subsequent announcement of the 7th match. It was his turn to fight. -Yosh! Finally it's my turn to fight… hmm I'll be facing Kiba, this might get interesting if what Shino said about him is true… and it is judging by how he's been acting when I'm around Hinata.- Smiling to himself he decided to aggravate the dogboy further and walked right to Hinata where he stopped for a moment before going down. "Hey Hinata, hold Akai-chan for a while would you, I don't want to take her down to the fight because she's still so young." He then handed the irate Kit to the now blushing Hinata and cast a meaningful glance at Kiba before heading down to the arena.
When he got down to the arena Kiba was already waiting, and positively brimming with confidence. His gloating comment of "Lucky aren't we Akamaru… with that loser as our opponent it's like we've already won." was met with a slightly hesitant bark from Akamaru, who had actually smelled the lingering remnants of Naruto's other chakra from when he'd been demonstrating it to Hinata in private.
Despite of his pet's lack of enthusiasm Kiba continued gloating over his easy victory only to be interrupted by the now fuming Naruto "Shut the hell up! And don't bring that puppy of yours to the fight… he'll just get in the way."
Now it was Kiba's turn to fume. "You idiot Akamaru is going to fight with me, he's a fully trained Ninja animal after all." This comment only made Naruto to smile, then point an accusing finger at Kiba "Yeah well, a loser like you would need all the help he can get so…"
Kiba was now beyond furious, here was the guy who'd been the laughing stock of the academy, standing before him acting all though. And to add to the incentive to beat him up real bad was the fact that he'd begun to suspect that 'his' Hinata-chan might actually like the dork for real. He ordered Akamaru to stand down and said "Hah, acting all though are you? I'll fight you alone and because I feel bad for you I'll even end it with one hit." His confidence grew with every word until he noticed that Naruto didn't seem to be least bit affected and that his eyes turned from their usual blue to rather unnerving crimson. Shrugging it off as some weird intimidation trick or whatever he made a few hand seals and whispered "Gijyuu Ninpou, Shikyaku no Jutsu". (Beast Mimicry, Four legs)
He then fell on all fours and with amazing speed leapt towards Naruto, who had almost no time to react, and slammed his elbow in the blonde's gut hurling him backwards like a sack of potatoes. Smirking he stood up and said "He won't be getting up anytime soon mr. Examiner." while eyeing the spectators and their reactions. To his dismay Hinata was looking somewhat sad and while he could hear Shikamaru's "Just as I thought." something drew his attention back to Hinata's now happy face. Kiba too began to smile, obviously Hinata had noticed that Naruto was nothing loser and not worth anyone's, least of all her, time. This fantasy was proven wrong by determined "Don't underestimate me… dogboy!" coming from his 'downed' victim who was supposed to be out cold.
Naruto was standing there staring at Kiba who had shock written on his face. -Damn that hurt, he hits like a damn jackhammer. And he's fast too.- Grinning confidently to Kiba who was now telling him to drop the tough guy act, he wiped some blood from the corner of his mouth and said "I just let you hit me to test your strength… It was pretty pathetic so really it's you who should drop the tough guy act. You know use your puppy too or whatever." Naruto watched as his words hit home making Kiba quiver with rage and then fell into a defensive stance, Kiba held the speed advantage unless he were to drop the genjutsu from his bracers and that was something he wanted to keep a secret as long as possible.
Kiba meanwhile had formulated a plan, grabbing few smokebombs he yelled at Akamaru and charged. Naruto watched the approaching pair carefully -Smokebombs? Heh this should be interesting- Soon enough Kiba got into range and threw the small orbs causing a large cloud of smoke to obscure the area. Inside the smoke Naruto was easily dodging the first few attacks that came his way -This is too easy… I would be beaten up badly if it wasn't for my senses though but still… where's that damn mutt?- Soon enough he had a fix on Akamaru's location and a pretty good idea on Kiba's plan, deciding to play along he dashed out of the smoke towards the waiting dog.
Several barks, yells of pain and general sounds of combat later the smoke cleared to reveal an unconscious Naruto and Akamaru who was happily wagging his tail. Kiba let out a yell of victory and extended his arms to welcome the ecstatic dog, only to have the said animal sink its rather sharp teeth into his arm. His confusion was escalated when 'Akamaru' said in a cheery voice "You fell for it!" and then growled loudly as he 'pooffed' into smiling Naruto who immediately began to spit out in disgust. "Blech gross Kiba don't you ever wash that coat of yours… sheesh tastes like a rotten dog…"
Up in the stands everyone was watching in stunned silence. Asuma and Kurenai, the Jounin instructors of Teams Eight and Ten were both thinking -What the hell did you do to that boy, the dead last of the academy, Kakashi?- The Jounins weren't the only ones impressed though and their thoughts were best summarized by Hinata's very quiet "Naruto-kun… you're great!" even though it was all buried under Sakura's very loud "YOU'RE GREAT NARUTO!". Sasuke just scoffed at the cheap 'tricks' Naruto was pulling while Neji found it mildly amusing that Naruto had the gall to complain about taste after biting someone.
Back at the arena Kiba tossed a soldier pill to Akamaru who was being held by Naruto's clone. The small, white and harmless looking dog suddenly turned into a red and definitely lot less harmless looking beast that, after effectively destroying the clone holding him, jumped on Kiba's back. Several handseals later Kiba yelled "Gijyuu Ninpou Jyuujin Bunshin!" (Beast Mimicry, Beast Human Clone) causing them both to be covered in smoke. Naruto's eyes narrowed and he pulled into even tighter defensive stance, when the smoke cleared revealing two identical 'beast' Kiba's that immediately charged forward.
He was in a tight spot and he knew it, dodging and parrying blows that rained from Kiba and the 'Kiba like' Akamaru Naruto was forced into a position where he was vulnerable. Smelling victory Kiba and Akamaru charged forward while Kiba yelled "Gatsuuga" (Double piercing fang) and both of them turned into veritable drills that both hit Naruto dead on. The blonde in question fell to the ground with an audible thud. "You always go on and on about becoming the Hokage… well I'll tell you something, a loser like you can never be Hokage but hey don't feel bad… I'll become the Hokage for you." Turning towards the referee he continued "He's finished, no way in hell…"
He never got the chance to finish what he was about to say when Naruto who was sprawled on the floor stood up shakily and flashed a confident grin. "If you are going to compete with me for the title of the Hokage… You should know that… you'll be the underdog." Pulling himself to yet another defensive stance he dodged the 'Gatsuuga' again. -He's getting careless, there was no preparation this time and now that I've seen that one I won't fall for it again. I'm still at a disadvantage though… I need to get rid of the damn mutt but how?- He smiled deviously while dodging yet another 'Gatsuuga' attack and formed a few handseals to perform a 'Henge' that made him an exact Kiba look alike.
Kiba sniffed the air tentatively, there were two exact copies of himself but he still had the advantage. There, that one smelled strongly of fox… he swung his fist with all his might and connected squarely at the fake causing him to fly backwards and land in a roll. There was a puff of smoke that revealed… Akamaru. Eyes widening he turned around in a rush and smashed his fist into what had to be Naruto only to see the 'Jyuujin Bunshin' dissolve into an unconscious Akamaru. Turning around totally baffled he was rewarded with a sight of cloud of smoke that cleared to reveal a grinning blonde who said in a taunting voice. "Think before using a jutsu or it will be used against you. And when in doubt… trust your nose… ne Kiba-kun? or should I call you Baka-kun?"
Up in the balcony Kakashi sweat dropped -He certainly is something else, using my lines like that… well at least he pissed him off-
Kiba was livid, the class failure that was supposed to be a pushover had foiled him in every turn. Forcing himself to calm down by biting his own hand he began to plan a strategy. -I'm faster and stronger than he is so I'll just keep on wearing him down… I'll get a hit in eventually and then it's all over.- He smirked, regained his calm, at Naruto who was now holding four shuriken in his hands. "Heh you think something so basic is going to work against me?"
Naruto just shook his head and smiled. "I'm going try out my new special technique on you… prepare to get payback for those 'Gatsuugas' they hurt like hell…" At that he threw three of the shurikens and a moment later the last shuriken. Kiba, like everyone else, was baffled at this odd behaviour until he heard poofs from behind him. Turning around in a flash he now stood face to face with three Kage Bunshins. It was too late he realized, when there was one final poof right behind him and then fist connected with his head. With a loud yell of "U" the first clone batted him towards the remaining three while the real Naruto used the first clone as a springboard. Then the remaining three clones kicked him into air yelling "ZU-MA-KI" where he met the real Naruto's heel that connected to his skull sending him to the hard floor below. "NARUTO RENDAN" (U-ZU-MA-KI NARUTO combo… duh…)
Naruto stood ready in case Kiba would still somehow recover from the beating he'd received. When he didn't and Hayate declared Naruto winner he turned his gaze towards Sasuke. With a flippant salute that clearly said "You aren't the only one who can copy stuff and pass it off as their own.", a message that Sasuke seemed to understand judging by his darkening countenance, Naruto headed towards the stairs. He walked over to the awestruck Hinata and collected his pet fox while still admiring the power of the healing salve he'd gotten from her. Flashing her a dazzling smile he said "Ne Hinata… this stuff is really really great, I mean it's closing my wounds like nothing I've ever seen." this naturally brought out a wave of blushing that caused the nearby Neji scoff at his weak cousin.
For some reason the announcement of the next match brought a cold knot into Naruto's stomach. He watched with certain amount of trepidation as Hinata was matched against her cousin Neji. A knot that grew tighter and colder when Lee snuck up to him and whispered "Judging from what I saw when you sparred with her, Hinata is very good but… Neji is the greatest genius born in their clan in the last hundred years. And he holds a grudge against the main house because he is from the branch house. This could get ugly."
Down at the arena Neji was berating Hinata, telling her how she was worthless, weak and unskilled. That didn't quite bury the knot in Naruto's stomach but it certainly made him feel angry. He'd used his Shinkugan to analyze Hinata's Jyuken form and had found out that her form was nearly flawless without any major gaps in the defence or in the offence. Hinata only had problems with her confidence and that bastard Neji was attacking just that. He narrowed his eyes and bellowed "STOP PRETENDING LIKE YOU KNOW SOMETHING YOU BASTARD! HINATA DON'T LISTEN TO THAT MORON... JUST BEAT THE SHIT OUT OF HIM AND SHOVE THAT SUPERIOR SMIRK OF HIS SO FAR UP HIS ASS THAT HE CAN OBSERVE IT WHENEVER HE OPENS HIS MOUTH IN FRONT OF A MIRROR!"
Deep in his mind Kyuubi giggled -So much for the subtleties… seems to have worked though. I swear being sealed in the kitling doesn't get boring…- And indeed it had worked. Hinata collected herself after the loud encouragement from her personal idol, activated her Byakugan and dropped into a Jyuken stance. "Come Neji-niisan let us fight." Neji was somewhere between pleased and annoyed because his weak cousin hadn't given up. It would have been delightful to humiliate a member of the main house by scaring her into forfeiting… but it would be almost as delightful to beat one into hospital, preferably into the morgue. He too took a Jyuken stance and the battle was joined.
Up on the balcony Naruto was watching with growing concern. While it did seem that Hinata was holding the upper hand after her determination had been lit by little encouragement, his eyes told him that Neji was actually toying with Hinata. He winced when Neji landed two hits on Hinata's chest causing her to spit out blood. Hinata then tried to strike Neji only to be stuck in the arm for her efforts. Neji then slammed his hand into her chest again with enough force to send her sprawling on the ground.
He looked down at his weak cousin who was coughing blood on the ground and said in a scornful tone "Hinata-sama… this is the difference in our strength… the difference between elite and loser. Forfeit…" Neji smiled to himself, this was indeed quite pleasurable. He narrowed his eyes slightly at the sight of Hinata who was slowly standing up and wetted his lips in anticipation to hear a submission from a member of the main house.
His eyes narrowed even more and his face turned into a scowl when Hinata finally stood up and said "No… I don't go back on my word… it's my nindo." Hinata, her eyes once more pulsing with the Byakugan, charged forward and challenged Neji in combat again… only to be hit repeatedly by Neji.
Naruto, whose anger was beginning to spike, began to inch closer to Hinata's sensei… there was a pattern behind those hits. "He's trying to kill or at least severely wound Hinata… You have put an end to this. Those strikes are all aimed to non vital organs but the combined effect of the damages could be… fatal." As he said the words he could feel Kyuubi's anger growing as well. The seal in his stomach began to slowly leak out bits of Kyuubi's chakra alerting most of the Jounins and incidentally the smirking Neji.
On the arena Neji was happily smirking at Hinata who was struggling to get back on her feet. He'd hit multiple organs with the Jyuken, none of the hits were lethal but… accidents did happen. His smirk waned when he felt a stab of intense anger and killer intent that was rolling from the balcony. Without turning his eyes he observed the loudmouth blonde… or what should have been him. Instead of the blonde there was something… else, something that actually was slightly scaring. He was Hyuuga Neji, he didn't get scared… ever, so instead he got angry and directed the anger to where he felt it was due… to his cousin. Deciding to put an end to this charade he charged forward ignoring the yell of "Neji-kun the match is over!" from Hayate only to be stopped by no less than four Jounin.
Behind the Jounins Hinata suddenly buckled over coughing out more blood. With a loud yell of "Hinata" Naruto jumped over the railing and hurried to the fallen girl. They locked eyes for a second and her eyes seemed to say "See Naruto-kun… I can be strong!" before Hinata's eyes rolled over and she slipped into unconsciousness. Naruto quickly flashed through a few handseals to activate the only medical jutsu he knew. It wasn't much, designed to be used as a first aid on minor wounds and such but still he'd read on the instructions that it's power was dependant on the amount of chakra the user would expend. Yelling for someone to get the damn medic team there faster he pumped out vast amounts of chakra into his hand that he held over the spots that Neji had hit. He didn't know exactly how much good he'd done or how long he'd been doing it when the medic team finally arrived.
Letting the professionals take over he suppressed yet another surge of anger that was coming from… he really didn't even know whether it was from Kyuubi or himself and turned to face the pleased looking Neji. "Hey loser, cut the pointless cheering on other losers and understand that you are never going to be more than just that… a loser." That did it the bastard was going down… hard. Naruto began to rush towards Neji only to be intercepted by Lee. "Naruto-kun… I understand why you would want to beat him up." He made a face towards the still smirking Hyuuga "And I completely agree with you, but still you should wait till you get a chance to fight him in a match… not in a brawl like this." Sensing that Naruto had calmed somewhat he let go of the blonde. "And I too want to fight Neji Naruto-kun, but should you be his opponent in the finals… there will be no hard feelings. It would somehow be more fitting should it be you."
Naruto stared at Neji, his eyes never leaving him he reached down to a pool of blood that was on the ground. Bringing his bloody hand up to eye level he channelled chakra into his fingernails making them grow into claws and then made a fist causing Hinata's blood and the blood that was flowing from his punctured palm to drip on the ground. "You… are… going… down!" With a final glare he turned and stomped towards the stairs leaving the openly amused Neji behind.
Up where the Sand siblings were Kankuro grinned at Naruto's performance. "He's so clueless that it's funny… He hasn't noticed the difference in their ability…"
This caused Gaara to turn his eyes on Kankuro. "He was lucky the greenclad ninja was there to stop him"
He said making Kankuro nod "That Neji guy was holding back… the blonde sure got lucky" Gaara only stared at the scoreboard that announced that he was to fight against Rock Lee next. Just before he vanished in a whirl of sand he said "He wasn't the lucky one." leaving behind a slightly nervous Kankuro -He couldn't mean that it was the white-eyed guy who…-
Down in the arena Lee was furiously attacking Gaara only to have his attacks meet an impregnable defence formed by moving sand. Forced into defence by what seemed to be hands made of sand he did several back flips and finally vaulted himself on top of the monument of seals. There was a moment of silence, while the two combatants stared at each other, that was broken by Gai's enthusiastic "Lee… take them off!"
Lee looked confused. "But Gai-sensei… that's only allowed when I'm protecting precious people…" His confusion turned to a look of glee when Gai flashed his nice guy pose and yelled "It's alright Lee! I'll allow it!" With an expectant look, almost like a small child on Christmas Eve, he rolled down his orange leg covers and unstrapped two set of weights that covered his shins and let them fall. "Yosh! Now I can move like the spirit of youth!"
Naruto only rolled his eyes, he knew the insane weights that Lee walked around with and was probably the only one who was not surprised at the massive cloud of dust and mortar that blew upwards when the weights hit the ground. Nor was he surprised when Lee seemed to blur out of existence only to reappear behind Gaara to give first blow in a flurry of blows that eventually smashed through his ultimate defence.
Temari and Kankuro were in shock, no one had ever broken through Gaara's sand before and forced him to use the 'Suna no Yoroi' (Armour of Sand) but they weren't the only ones, Gaara himself was rather shocked at the speed and strength that Lee was using. Lee was shocked as well, with that moving sand and the sand armour that was covering Gaara's skin there was no way he'd be able to deal enough damage to win before he would run out of steam. He shot a questioning glance at Gai who nodded imperceptibly making Lee smile as he began to untie the bandages covering his arms.
At this point Naruto was getting very interested. He was about to witness the 'Omote Renge' (Initial Lotus) that he'd heard Lee and Gai talk about. And there it was, with a blinding speed Lee made several circles around Gaara and then duck under his guard to kick him from below, only to follow him into the air where he wrapped his bandages around Gaara. The effect was quite spectacular as Gaara was drilled half a meter into the ground and began to crumble revealing that Lee had wasted his move on a 'Suna Bunshin'.
Now Lee was on the defensive, his body hurt all over from using the 'Renge' and all he could do, and even that barely, was dodge the jets of sand that would have knocked him unconscious or worse. Gaara on the other hand tasted victory and was preparing for a final strike that would make him win when Lee suddenly rolled away without the slightest hint of pain. Up in the balcony Kakashi and Gai were in a heated conversation about the 'eight celestial gates' something that Naruto decided he would ask about later.
Lee grew stronger by the moment, small pebbles starting to rise from the ground around him and then he was off. Faster than the eye could follow he kicked Gaara into air again then jumped after him. To a casual observer it seemed as if Gaara was bounced around by invisible hands, hit after hit rained on him from the furious Lee who was preparing for a final strike just as the muscles in his hand ceased to function, ignoring the pain he forced the fifth gate to open and delivered a jarring blow to Gaara propelling him downwards. Lee then pulled on his bandages to pull Gaara upwards like a yo-yo while preparing to perform the 'Ura Renge' (Extreme Lotus). His fist made contact with Gaara and smashed him to the ground and sending Lee hurling to the other end of the arena. Much to the dismay of Gai and to amazement of most everyone else Gaara wasn't finished yet.
His sand began to creep towards Lee and then suddenly wrapped itself around his spandex covered arm and leg. It stopped there though as Gaara paused. Images of his painful past flashed through his mind and the sand moved forward again then stopped. Gaara dismissed the memories of Shukaku's insane whispers that demanded he feed his opponents to the sand. There were no whispers anymore, no need to kill to silence the unquenchable thirst that was in Shukaku. True he had killed the Rain ninjas, without mercy or hesitation but they… they had demanded that they have his scroll, and his sister in exchange for escape.
His eyes focused on Lee as more images flashed through his mind, images of Naruto smiling to Lee who was pumping his fist in the air and yelling "Flames of youth will unite our villages in peace!" he had made his decision and the sand obeyed it wrapping itself around the boy. Gaara stood up and said "Referee, it's over he is unable to fight anymore…" then he, almost carefully, used his sand to place the unconscious taijutsu master on the ground. As he let the sand flow back into the gourd his eyes widened… despite his injuries Lee was there standing in his signature ready position. -Is he even human? I clearly heard his muscles snap…- Any further deliberations into the issue were cut off by Gai's arrival who declared that it was over and that Lee was already unconscious. Gaara turned away after he was declared winner and returned to the balcony offering only a commanding "Shut up!" to all the questions that were directed at him by his siblings and Baki.
The tenth and final fight soon began between Akimichi Choji and Dosu Kinuta. The preliminaries came to an end with a fight that was somewhat anticlimactic after the showdown between Gaara and Lee as Dosu easily claimed victory by directing his sound waves through Choji's body and into his eardrums making him lose consciousness.
The Hokage began by congratulating all those who had passed and proceeded to explain that they now had a month to recover, train and to device strategies against their opponents. As for the opponents… after a series of drawing lots the fight schedule was established. To his delight Naruto drew one while Neji drew two meaning that they had the first fight. Other pairs were Sasuke and Gaara, Kankurou and Shino, Shikamaru and Dosu with Temari fighting against the winner of that match. With that and an explanation as to how they could all become Chuunin or that maybe none of them would become Chuunin the Hokage dismissed them for a months time.
Before he could even ask, Kakashi approached Naruto as they stood outside training area 44. "So Naruto… congratulations on passing the prelims. I'm going to leave several scrolls at your for you to study during this month." That caused Naruto's smile to falter, he'd really been hoping that Kakashi, whom he considered to be about the best ninja around would have taken charge of his training. Seeing this Kakashi quickly continued "The Hokage has asked that I train Sasuke as I am the only Sharingan user in the village it would make sense… the Hokage also said he has arranged another teacher for you. Your father's old sensei Jiraiya who was also Orochimaru's old teammate… you are to meet him at the Konoha hotspring resort tomorrow after lunch… he's an old man with white spiky white hair, you can't miss him."
He gave Naruto a slight push. "I suggest that you rest for today and I think it would be… nice to visit your sparring partner in the hospital just to see how he's doing. Him and maybe… someone else too?" Somehow the slight suggestiveness of his tone and the way his visible eye cringed caused Naruto to feel quite hot and uncomfortable. Kakashi's eye shone with suppressed mirth. "Anyway I'll leave you some scrolls that I think might come handy when you go against the Hyuuga boy… remember he's no pushover so train hard and all that… well see you in a month." Naruto watched with mixed emotions as his uncle vanished in a cloud of smoke after a final wave of hand.
As he made his way home for the first time in five days he pondered about what Kakashi had just said. -I guess he's right about that whole Sharingan thing… though it still kinda sucks to be referred to someone else. On the other hand, he was father's sensei and one of the Sannin just like that snake-bastard so that would mean that he's really strong too.- Grumbling he absently stroked Akai-chan while immersed in his own thoughts. When they got back to Naruto's apartment they cleaned up and headed out for some celebratory ramen at Ichiraku's. Twenty some bowls of ramen later Naruto decided that he would do as Kakashi had instructed and visit the hospital… he was anxious to know exactly how badly both Lee and Hinata had gotten hurt.
First thing he saw when he arrived at the hospital was Gai-sensei who immediately ran up to his part-time pupil and began to yell "Ah Naruto-kun it pleases me greatly to see that you take the time visit your fallen comrade despite burning passion for training that you must feel is needed to fulfil your youthful potential…" After few moments and several rather harsh glares from the nurses he calmed down enough to explain in plain words that Lee was expected to make a full recovery. He had pulled or torn muscles all over his body and there were small fractures on many of his bones but still… Gai sighed "The flames of youth are strong in this one and thusly he will make most efficient recovery… they expect him to be up to norm in one month but I say he'll be back to it in two weeks and if he's not I'll run around Konoha five hundred times and if I can't do that I'll…" Naruto tuned the rest out, he knew from experience that only a blatant interruption could stop Gai or Lee for that matter when they went on their rants.
He bid the starry eyed Gai goodbye and went to front desk to find out where Hinata was taken. After receiving a room number he went to find the said room. When he entered the room there was no one else there beside Hinata so he pulled out a chair and sat next to her bed. After a moment of awkward silence he cleared his throat and pulled out a kitsune plushie, that he'd brought on Akai's insistence, and placed it under Hinata's arm. He then looked from her to Akai to the plushie and then to Hinata again and shook his head. -Damn it, why is this so hard? I mean I speak to girls every day and she's not even awake for Kami's sake... could it be that I… no I will not think about that stuff until I'm done with the damn exam.-
He cleared his throat again and then said "Well Hinata… you umm. you did really well out there and umm Akai wanted you to have the plushie so that you could pet it in her stead and stuff… so I'll be going now I guess and we're still on for the ramen right? I mean well I'll be back when you are feeling better and stuff… so bye!" Acting as on instinct he reached out with his hand and slightly touched Hinata on the cheek, and then realizing what he'd just done quickly pulled the hand away and blushed deep crimson. -Phew… good thing nobody saw that one. What ever possessed me to do it in the first place?-
Throwing a dark curse at Kyuubi who was now rolling around in barely concealed fits of laughter he turned stood up and walked to the door, which suddenly opened smacking him squarely on the face. After he regained his senses he came face to face with Hinata's Jounin instructor Yuuhi Kurenai and her teammate Shino. Seeing an opportunity to gain more info on Hinata's state he asked "How is she? I mean she's sleeping and all and there are none of those weird machines they keep on really sick people on tv…"
What happened next was something he really didn't see coming. Kurenai simply grabbed him in a hug and whispered a heartfelt "Thank you…" into his ear. When Kurenai finally let go of the confused foxboy she began to explain. "The medics said that she'd suffered major trauma on most of her internal organs… the combinated effect would have been fatal or the very least very severe had she not received extensive first aid on the spot…" She locked her red eyes with Naruto's "You may very well have saved her life with that jutsu of yours and for that you have my gratitude."
Naruto cringed when he heard the words, then his face set in a determined mask. "So that bastard Neji was really trying to kill her… all the more reason to whip his lily ass all over the stadium." He motioned towards the sleeping Hinata. "So when is she expected to wake up and will she be alright and exactly when will she be alright?"
There was some deeper undercurrent in his voice that apparently was not missed by the red eyed Jounin. "She's expected to wake up later this evening or sometime during the night and she should be out of the hospital in a week… or sooner. If you want to visit her then why don't you drop by tomorrow around lunchtime, I'm sure she could use the company and maybe something different from the hospital food… but that just a suggestion." She smiled prettily at Naruto who was now blushing slightly. "Now off you go, you have your own training to think about I'm certain… and congratulations on passing the exam by the way."
She ushered Naruto out from the room and to the hallway where he was soon joined by Shino who simply offered his hand and said "I thank you also… she's a good person." with that the bug user turned to leave but was stopped by Naruto who was already formulating a plan and needed some information. Shino paused to consider Naruto's request and decided that it was worth the time it would take… before parting ways with him Shino said one last thing "I'm sure Kiba will feel thankful as well, as for the other matter… I'll speak with him."
Gaara was staring at the full moon, Shukaku was always most active during this time but now… this was the first time in his life that he was able to look at the moon and not feel the desire to kill things. He was actually enjoying his very first 'moon viewing' when the Sound nin Dosu came to interrupt. After the Sound nin prattled something about trying to kill him in his sleep and the need to eliminate him so that he would have a better chance of fighting the Uchiha he was growing bored. "You know… you are sort of lucky. He's sealed now, he used to get so bloodthirsty during full moon but now… you only have to deal with me." There was a sudden wave of sand that engulfed the Sound nin and a muffled cry followed by a spurt of blood when Gaara's sand crushed the poor bastard. -Moron, Shukaku might not make me kill things but I still don't like assassins… much less sound assassins.-
He was unaware of the two men watching him. "So that's the extent of his capabilities? Or should I say that that's the extent of his capabilities unless 'it' comes out correct? And don't worry about Kinuta, he served his purpose and wasn't all that useful anymore." Hayate perked his ears, there was the Sand Jounin Baki talking to Kabuto, a Leaf Genin who was to be arrested on suspicion of treason. He listened intently as the two men talked about a plan to attack Kohona only to gasp slightly when he heard Baki declare "I'll take care of the eavesdropper… it's only one rat there so no problem."
The two Jounin faced off and after a conceiting "My my mr. examiner… what are you doing here all alone?" from Baki, Hayate launched his attack after performing a few seals and yelling out "Mikazuki no Mai" (Dance of the Crescent Moon). An attack that did connect but didn't quite cause the affect it was supposed to as Baki only smiled. "Very surprising to master such a move on so young age… but your blade can be stopped while a blade of wind can't… Kaze no Yaiba" Hayate saw it coming. -So… it ends here then- There was moment of blackness then he realized something. -Sand, there's a wall of sand in front of me… what the hell?- He quickly and cautiously navigated around the wall of sand only to see Baki's head, with his mouth covered, sticking out from a cocoon of sand. He whirled about when there was a voice that said "I believe Baki would tell you most interesting things if you were to question him…" Looking towards a nearby roof he saw the Sand boy, Gaara smirking and holding his hand towards Baki. "I wish to leave the service of Kazekage-sama... and join the ranks of your Leaf Genin if possible."
It was nearly lunch time the following day and Naruto was balancing several takeout bowls of miso and beef ramen along with a bag that held several canned beverages and an additional bag of special treat he'd gotten. He was almost at Hinata's room when he heard a male voice stating "You are weak daughter! To lose in a fight to a member of the branch house is inexcusable." The voice and the message that the voice conveyed reminded him so much of Neji that he almost dropped the foodstuffs he was lugging… almost. Taking a deep breath he tried to calm himself, an act that was almost impossible as the male in Hinata's room continued to berate her, calling her worthless and the like. Deciding to take Kyuubi's advice, she was talking his ear off really, he feigned ignorance of any other visitors and kicked the door open, secretly hoping to hit the offending male with it, and burst into the room.
He heard Kyuubi making a small snort of amusement when he observed a pale eyed man, obviously Hinata's father whirl around in amazement at such a blatant intrusion. Pointedly ignoring the man he waved cheerfully at Hinata. "Oi Hinata… good to see you awake and all you had us all worried there for a moment. Anyway I got you some ramen and stuff to make you feel better, I mean hospital food has a certain… reputation." Placing his baggage on a nearby table he noticed that Hiashi, as he knew Hinata's father was called, was growing quite impatient from being ignored. Paying the man no heed he helped Akai-chan from her pouch onto Hinata's bed where she was promptly placed in a small embrace joining, he noted, the kitsune plushie he'd brought the day before.
Turning around he acted as he hadn't even noticed Hiashi before this. "Ah gomen Hiashi-sama I didn't realize you were there…" He immediately disliked the man, not only did he sound like Neji but he even had the same superior 'I'm better than you… so you are nothing to me' look on his face. "I brought some ramen… but I'm afraid there's not enough for all of us so if you'll excuse us…" That brought a muffled squeak from Hinata and caused Hiashi's eyes to narrow visibly. Now Naruto really wasn't sure why Kyuubi thought it was a good idea to outrageously piss off the guy but he was enjoying himself so he really didn't care.
Hiashi used the moment of silence to deal with this impudent commoner. "It's you who should excuse us… I was just talking with my daughter…" He got no further when Naruto interrupted.
"You mean telling her how she is weak for not winning against someone who is supposedly the greatest genius in the Hyuuga clan… how's that her fault? She fought to the best of her ability and you can't say jack about that because you weren't there to see it were you? And if she's not the greatest genius in the clan then that's not her fault either." Naruto almost choked on what Kyuubi was telling him to say. "Or am I mistaken to think that you are the one who conceived her? So wouldn't any shortcomings in that direction be your fault…" Hiashi was now visibly fuming. "Only thing she doesn't have in abundance is self esteem but that's not surprising if your actions today are any indication of the norm…"
"How dare you… my daughter is weak and there's no way around it and it can't be changed… I only hope that her sister Hanabi won't turn out to be as useless as she is." Hiashi was livid actually, not only had this commoner dared voice the truth he himself didn't want to face, Neji was a genius among the Hyuuga, he'd also dared to question his abilities as a father… and a man. He was about to defend his position when the boy continued.
"Now Hiashi-sama, we have established that Neji has the strongest of Hyuuga blood in the past hundred years so wouldn't it make the whole Hyuuga clan look bad when I kick his ass around the stadium like it was an empty can." Naruto stopped to draw breath and gauge Hiashi's reaction, something which was hard because he'd along the years cultivated a face of total composure.
Only thing that gave away the Hyuuga leader's anger was a pulsing vein on his forehead. "Blah, this is pointless… There is now way rabble like you could ever defeat even the weakest of the Hyuuga, let alone my nephew Neji…"
This caused Kyuubi to smile -Hook, line and sinker…- now all that remained was for Naruto to say the words… And the blonde said them "Want to bet? If and when I kick the crap out of Neji you will take back all that crap about Hinata being weak and start treating her like you should treat your own daughter… and if for some reason I lose… well dunno you can ask anything really." He flashed out a confident grin to the now terrified Hinata.
-Cocky little bastard… anything hmm. Intriguing proposition, maybe if we could incorporate his apparent 'bloodline' into the Hyuuga… yes that might work.- Hiashi drew a breath and cleared his throat. "Very well Uzumaki I accept and if you lose you will forget your ambitions of becoming a Hokage and be branded as a member of the Hyuuga branch family so that our clan may benefit from your… unique physique." He grinned wickedly "Actually why won't we just brand that weak daughter of mine you are so eager to protect and marry you of to each other…" deciding that the matter was closed at that he turned to leave only to hear Naruto's cheerful voice yelling after him "Hey hey, you trying to bribe me so that I'd lose on purpose or what?"
After it was apparent to Naruto that Hiashi was gone and wouldn't come back he turned to furiously blushing Hinata. Suddenly realizing how awkward the situation was Naruto blushed as well. "Umm… well you see Hinata… sorry I really didn't have the right to do that but… I just couldn't stand by and let that moron call you weak and all." He scratched the back of his head in embarrassment and then remembered something important. "Aha Hinata-chan I forgot that I brought ramen… here have some." Naruto busied himself by pulling out a table that he set near Hinata's bed and placed several cups of ramen on it.
Hinata didn't notice though, she was totally out of it. First she was being berated by her father only to be fiercely defended by Naruto who then made a bet with her father that would most surely land them as a married couple and if that wasn't enough Naruto had brought her food and had called her Hinata-chan of all things. Then something else clicked… the boy whom she secretly loved had just placed his only dream on the line for her sake. Looking frantically about she noticed that the said boy had just deposited a bowl of steaming ramen in front of her and had a carefree, almost eager expression on his face. She began to whisper out "Naruto-kun… you must… withdraw from this bet… you can't risk your dreams."
Naruto only raised his eyebrow in amazement. He wasn't sure how Hinata would react to bet, but he certainly wasn't expecting her to only worry about his chances of becoming a Hokage. He needed time to think and luckily the excuse was only an arms length away. "Don't worry about that now Hinata-chan just eat that ramen before it gets cold and we can talk after that right?" trying to set an example he dug in. After Naruto cleaned out four bowls of ramen, three of his own and one he'd brought for Hinata, who demurely declined the second bowl saying that one bowl was enough for her, he grabbed the bag he'd brought and handed it over to Hinata who, blushing only slightly, peeked into the bag only to squeal out "Cinnamon rolls… my favourites, how did you know?"
Now it was Naruto's turn to blush but before he could even begin to explain Akai cut in. "He bullied that information out from your teammate Hinata-chan. That was yesterday when we came to check up on you and brought you that plushie to keep you company." This blatant lie caused Naruto to gasp, he hadn't bullied anything from Shino just merely asked if there was any food Hinata liked in particular. He rubbed his temples while thinking -Damn I swear Akai and Kyuubi are in league and playing matchmakers.- a thought that caused Kyuubi to snort in amusement.
He checked the time and noticed that it he'd have to meet that mysterious teacher of his pretty soon. Turning to look at the still blushing Hinata he said "Look Hinata, like I said I'm sorry about that bet I made with your father but it just made me so mad when he put you down like that… but don't worry I won't lose so you don't have to marry me or anything." He blushed again at the word 'marry' but continued "Anyway I have to meet this teacher who's supposed to show me some stuff so… I'll come visit you tomorrow or?"
Hinata was playing with her fingers and blushing. -Naruto-kun, I would gladly become a member of the branch house for you but… you can't give up your dream…- Naruto decided that if he was to get any reply from the shy girl he'd have to administer his patented 'anti finger playing no jutsu' and so he grabbed Hinata's hands effectively stopping the nervous motion, the blush didn't diminish however. With great difficulty Hinata was able to overcome the faint that nearly overwhelmed her and managed to squeak out "Hai… Naruto-kun… it would be nice to… if you would… tomorrow."
Bemused Naruto shook his head slightly and decided that she'd probably faint if he held her hands any longer. So he let Akai get her last petting of the day before collecting the kit and said "Well see you tomorrow then Hinata-chan… I gotta run so…" with that he left the room only to poke his head through the door a second later "Oh and get better soon okay so maybe you'll can help me with my training and stuff… well bye again." and then he was gone leaving poor Hinata in her bed pondering the most bizarre, yet at the same time most gratifying, lunch of her young life.
Naruto was pondering things along the same lines when he ran towards the Konoha hotspring resort with an easy lope. He wondered why on earth would his new sensei want to meet at the hotsprings though. -Maybe he'll teach me some cool techniques involving hot water…- At this images of lobster red Neji entered his mind causing him to laugh out loud along with Kyuubi. -…or maybe he's just an old man who wants to take a nice relaxing bath while planning out my training…- Playing through the myriad of possibilities in his head he soon arrived at the hotsprings. Looking around the entrance he saw no sign of a white haired man so he decided to check the inside only to find them all but deserted.
At first he thought he was the only one in the hotsprings but that theory was trashed when he heard an oddly familiar chuckle, it reminded him of the sounds Kakashi-sensei made when he read that perverted book of his. -Oh great, another day… another pervert. I guess I'll just trash that hentai while I wait for that Jiraiya or whatever- looking about he quickly spotted someone squatting near the fence that separated the women's side from the men's side… taking a better look of the man he could only feel despair starting to creep in. -Old man… with a spiky white hair… and obviously a pervert… WHY THE HELL DO THESE THINGS HAPPEN TO ME? WHY?-
Feeling somehow betrayed he decided to vent on the old pervert and snuck up behind him. "Hey you old man… why are you peeping at WOMEN'S bath? You aren't a PERVERT are you?" Feeling somewhat satisfied when he could hear the women running away from their baths he smirked at the old man who was yelling "BAKA BAKA BAKA BAKA!" in utter desolation. Naruto smirked and said "You are just a pervert… anyway are you Jiraiya?"
The pervert began a weird dance of sorts. "Thanks for asking… I am mt.Myobukugama's holy master sennin, also know as the toad sennin or the great Jiraiya-sama… remember that!" Seeing that Naruto was clearly unimpressed he added "And I'm no ordinary pervert… I gather data at the hotsprings for my novels, I'm a writer you see." Jiraiya whipped out a book labelled 'Icha Icha Paradise vol. 2' causing Naruto to point his finger at the book and stutter something. "So you are familiar with my works?" His expression turned gleeful. -Ooh to think that so young would know my works… this is getting pretty popular I see.-
He was totally devastated when Naruto began to yell "Aaahh that's the dirty book that Kakashi-sensei reads… you are even worse than he is if you write that smut." Naruto shook his fist "And you are supposed to train me not peep on women…"
-Kakashi? So this is Arashi's brat… heh… all he would need is a change of clothes and he could easily pass for the young Arashi, hell even the attitude is similar. And if he has truly begun to absorb Kyuubi it would be interesting to train him.- Grinning as an idea formed itself Jiraiya cocked his head "Train you… why should I train you? You are just a brat who interrupted my data gathering. But seeing as you have potential I might consider it if you fulfil my request." He began to shape a female body with his hands "Bring me a fruit that has matured like that and I'll oversee your training."
Naruto was barely able to restrain himself from strangling the pervert and being sick over the cheesiness of the hentai's request when Kyuubi made a rather evil suggestion. Now he was barely able to restrain himself from buckling over in laughter as he yelled "Hey Ero-sennin, I'll get you your matured fruit in a flash… just you wait." as he took of in full run leaving behind one happy Jiraiya. -Hehee I was going to train him anyway but if he delivers some sexy babes… well who am I to complain…teeheehee-
Only a few moments later Naruto returned and presented the 'matured' fruit with glee causing a Jiraiya to fall flat on his face. When he got up he sweat dropped as Naruto was happily and quite extravagantly moving his hands over the large watermelon and chattering about how it had 'matured nicely'. -Sheesh what a moron… maybe Sarutobi-sensei was wrong about this kid.- He began to twiddle his fingers with a lustful expression on his face. "You brat! I need sexy babes to inspire me…"
Naruto's face fell… he really, really didn't want to resort to this but apparently there was no alternative. A quick handseal later Naruto transformed into a naked blonde girl causing Jiraiya's eyes to nearly burst out from their sockets. Drool began to fall from the pervert's mouth as he yelled "I like you!" causing Naruto to think -He's a moron!- The drooling pervert was circling around Naruto taking in all the details and spouting inane babble "What do you call this jutsu?" and "You are a genius."
Naruto was sweating slightly -I seriously begin to think that all adults are perverts.- he thought while trying to compose himself. "Hey does this mean you are going to train me then?" The pervert nodded enthusiastically and stated that there was a condition. Now puzzled Naruto asked "What condition?" causing Jiraiya to turn around and poke his fingers together. Naruto barely made out the whisper of "You have to stay like that during the training." but it was enough. A vein popped on his forehead as he dispelled the henge and pointed a finger at the older man. "You are just a sukebe you… you ero-sennin!"
Quite surprisingly Jiraiya only laughed it out. "I'm not an ordinary pervert… I'm a SUPER pervert!" He quickly turned serious. "But enough of this entertainment… I was going to train you anyway because Sarutobi-sensei asked. Now let's leave and find someplace more private so we can talk…"
Few hours later they were sitting on a log in the forest. Jiraiya had proven to be an apt listener though he had been somewhat too keen to hear a detailed description of Kyuubi's 'human form' but Naruto shrugged that off as normal for someone who openly admits to being a 'super pervert'. The sennin looked thoughtful for a moment. "So basically you have to beat up a Hyuuga genius in one months time… hmm normally I'd say you don't have any chance but considering the fact that you can use Kyuubi's chakra, have a doujutsu that would allow you to analyze his moves… not to mention that you have worn Arashi's genjutsu bracers for the last two months or so." He stood up "Meet me here tomorrow morning at eight. I'll have a training schedule for you then, but as for now I need to go see Sarutobi-sensei…" with that he vanished in a whirl of leaves leaving Naruto sitting alone on the log thinking -Damn I really need to learn how to do that…-
Naruto was feeling content again. Ero-sennin, despite his obvious pervertedness, seemed to be a reasonably strong and given the fact that he was supposedly one of the legendary Sannin was only an added incentive. Besides that he'd found a nice surprise when he got back from his meeting with the sennin. Kakashi had been good to his word and had left several scrolls for Naruto to read, including to his delight scroll that contained the 'Chidori' and an attached note that said only to use Chidori when his Shinkugan was active to evade possible enemy counter attacks. There were also several notes made by Kakashi that detailed some tactics that might be useful against the Byakugan and all the info he had about Neji's abilities.
Next morning he was early at the agreed upon location and so immersed in the 'Chidori' scroll that he didn't even notice Jiraiya until Akai let out a warning yap which was rewarded by a small piece of jerky thrown at the kit as a gift from the old pervert who'd taken immediate liking of the cute little fox. "Well brat… I hear that your chakra control is good enough so today we'll try summoning." Biting his thumb and smearing his palm with blood he performed few hand seals and yelled "Kuchiyose no Jutsu" (Summoning Technique… duh) causing a large toad with a scroll in its mouth to appear. The toad then 'handed' the scroll down to Naruto while Jiraiya explained "This is a toad summoning contract… write your name in blood and press your fingerprints on the contract and you will be able to summon toads."
Naruto was about to do so when he was interrupted by Kyuubi who bid him to come and visit her. Complying Naruto concentrated and found himself on Kyuubi's meadow. The said fox was sitting near a similar looking scroll and said "Now listen kit… I've been meaning to give you contract with foxes and while I can guarantee that they will co-operate but I can't say the same for toads. You would have to negotiate a deal with Gamabunta the boss toad if you are to sign their contract as well. Anyway here's the summoning contract so sign in blood please." Bewildered Naruto complied and signed the contract only to find himself in the real world where he was being shaken by somewhat concerned Jiraiya. "Hey kid, what happened you just spaced out for a moment there…"
Naruto explained what had happened to the dubious looking Jiraiya who decided that regardless he should sign the toad contract because toads were much 'cooler' than foxes and because Naruto's father had also summoned toads. Shrugging the blonde complied, bit his thumb open and signed the contract after which the pervert dismissed his summoned toad. Running few times though the handseals necessary for summoning Jiraiya said "Now… if you really have two different contracts it's important that you focus on the animal you wish to summon. And now we will practice yes? Pull out all the Kyuubi's chakra you can and perform 'Kuchiyose no Jutsu'…"
Snickering to himself Naruto complied and began to pump out Kyuubi's chakra in vast amounts, in fact he pumped out enough chakra that ero-sennin decided it would be prudent to put some distance between himself and Naruto… just in case. The decision proved to be wise seeing as there was a huge billow of smoke that solidified into a very large toad that bellowed "JIRAIYAA! DAMN YOU JIRAIYAA!" Needless to say Naruto was more than slightly intimidated by the belligerent, not to mention huge, toad but steeled himself nonetheless and climbed down to his nose making the toad raise an questioning eyebrow. "Hey you little punk, where's Jiraiya?"
Naruto looked to where the whitehaired man used to be but saw neither hide nor hair of the said sennin. Looking back up at the toad he said "Well he was there just a moment ago… anyway are you Gamabunta?" This made the large toad snort in disdain "It's Gamabunta-sama to a little shrimp like you… now tell me why the hell did that perverted geezer summon me and why is there a weird little punk on my head!"
Naruto blinked, he hadn't realized that summons didn't even know who summoned them. Shrugging the fact aside as unimportant he made a face "Well Gamabunta-sama I actually summoned you…" Making a forestalling gesture to prevent the toad from erupting into laughter he continued "…see I used Kyuubi's chakra to summon you. I'm the 'weird little punk' who got the damn fox sealed in me… and incidentally the seal has begun to drain the fox into me so I kinda got more than enough chakra to summon the likes of you." He now got Gamabunta's undivided attention. "Anyway the thing is, ero-sennin gave me this summoning contract and all but Kyuubi had me sign the fox contract. She promised that the foxes would co-operate but that I would need your approval of this as well."
Gamabunta was now serious. "Hmm brat… so you are the one who was chosen to contain the Kyuubi. Give me one good reason why I should order any of my subordinates to serve you if you already have a pact with the furballs?" Naruto shrugged, he really didn't know the differences between foxes or frogs… with the exception that foxes had tail and fur really. "Well I guess ero-sennin wanted me to summon toads because he and my father both had a contract with toads. Other than that I can't really say I mean it's not like I'm an expert on this summoning stuff… this is my first time you know. But maybe the old man could tell, he's hiding in that bush over there."
Gamabunta turned his gaze towards a now slightly shaking bush and bellowed. "Jiraiya! Come out you dirty old lech. Is what this brat true… is he truly the Yondaime's legacy?" The bush stopped shaking and Jiraiya popped outand began to tell an abbreviated version of Naruto's life. After some ten minutes of explaining the toad boss let out a bellowing laugh "You are interesting you little punk! I'll let you become my subordinate and if you need the help of my kin, we will answer your call. Now get off my head so I can leave this place…"
Naruto jumped down and Gamabunta vanished in a cloud of smoke leaving ecstatic Naruto and unnerved Jiraiya behind. "Well kid, I guess you did better than I expected with that. I was actually thinking that summoning might take you longer to learn so… that'll be all for today, but feel free to practice summoning and whatever it was that you were studying earlier." The pervert waved his hand and left thinking -Arashi… my boy your kid is certainly something else… he even befriended the Gamabunta. But now for the important things… to data gathering!- he began to chuckle pervertedly while walking in the general direction of Konoha bathhouses.
Naruto stayed behind and began once more to study the 'Chidori' scroll. By dinnertime he was hungry, tired and happy… he'd advanced noticeably due the similarity between his foxfire and the 'Chidori' and was now capable of performing the initial stages. He still lacked control due the vast amounts of power needed to perform the jutsu but that would come in time… now if he only could learn to perform the 'Hiraishin'. Looking about he noticed to his dismay that Akai was feasting on a rabbit she'd hunted down on her own and didn't look willing to share, so he picked up the kit and her meal and headed home for a meal of his own. Having filled his stomach with sweet-and-sour pork, rice and vegetables he decided that a visit to the hospital was in order. He wanted to check on Lee… and Hinata, pondering again on the mysteries of emotions he headed towards the hospital.
This went on for a week, he would train with ero-sennin during the days perfecting his techniques and learning new ones. Jiraiya actually knew the principle behind 'Hiraishin no Jutsu' and had begun to explain this to the eager boy. To further his understanding in the technique Jiraiya taught the boy how to perform 'Shunshin no jutsu' (Body flicker technique) that produced a similar only weaker effect of 'Hiraishin'. At the end of the week Naruto had pretty much mastered the use of 'Shunshin' and 'Chidori' and had actually managed to correctly perform 'Hiraishin' three times… out of the hundred or so times he'd tried.
And then the week was over he found out that Lee was already released and was slowly trying to get back to his brutal training regimen and that Lee was actually eager to help him train against Neji. Something which he politely declined saying that he couldn't accept the offer for another week at least lest he aggravate Lee's injuries. This seemed to deflate Lee slightly but he quickly bounced back up declaring that he would be better than ever after one week and if he wasn't then he'd… Naruto sighed, some things never changed.
Other thing that changed during the week was that Hinata was released from hospital but restricted from doing anything strenuous for at least two weeks. She then did something she considered daring… and brought Naruto and herself lunch the following day, something which Naruto readily accepted. Jiraiya didn't complain either, his policy was that there were never too many women around… especially adorable girls like Hinata. This went for another week until the damnable pervert asked Naruto to share some details about his cute little girlfriend, something which resulted in a seriously pissed off Naruto and painful beating by two chakra composed tails.
The question itself wasn't the only thing that had pissed him off, it was the frustration on whether or not he actually felt any affection to Hinata as a person or did he feel something for her because she knew about Kyuubi and had accepted him. Naruto was so entangled in the layers of this question that he didn't even notice Hinata until he heard a soft "Ano… Naruto-kun I brought lunch…" Letting out a sigh Naruto turned around and decided that he really needed to talk about this with Hinata right now… well after the lunch anyway.
TBC… (in the first half of next week or something)
Author's rant
Suck on the cliffhanger people… BWAHAHAAHA
Anyway I said that this was going to come out in 2 to 4 days but it turned out to be 5 days… well the reason is that I got lost on the road that is life and the fact that this is clearly the longest chapter yet. I actually was thinking of chopping it in two but decided against it.
Oh one thing… please review people… you know tell me what you liked best what you hated most and stuff… thank you…
Yes Gaara is now gunning for the leaf… yay
I also had a lot of difficulty doing the Hiashi part. I really had only two ways to do it. 1) Disown Hinata and toss her to the street (and obviously to Naruto…) but that really didn't fit. 2) Do it this way… anyways Hiashi will eventually get nicer I think.
Anyway stay tuned for the next chapter… there's going to be some interesting (I hope) stuff in it. Like say Gaara vs. Sasuke among other things.
Eeh... I made a boo-boo... I had Naruto say that ero-sennin and the yondaime had a contract with foxes... while it was the toad thingy. Anyway I actually fixed it once but apparently forgot to save the change or something but anyways... Thx to Dragon Noir for noticing this.