I'm back, hopefully this update will happen faster than my last few…
Man, I wrote that when I started writing the chapter, four weeks ago. Guess I was wrong…
Sorry for the delay, hope you enjoy the next chapter.
Chapter 13
Drip.
Drip.
Drip.
Drip.
Naruto's eye twitched at the annoying noise as he glared at the small devise that allowed medicine to slowly drip into the tube connected to the still form on the white hospital bed. Naruto looked down solemnly at the two unmoving figures. Tenten and Shino. Sure, they hadn't been his best friends in the whole world, but he still cared for them. And he definitely would never wish this on them.
He reached down and picked up a hospital chart hanging on the end of Shino's bed.
Patient: Aburame Shino
Bloodlines/Medical Conditions: Kikai bugs live in patient's body, feeding off of chakra stores, making most medical jutsu ineffective.
Condition: Stable; however, in a comatose state, unknown whether patient will ever revive.
Naruto stopped reading. He looked up again at his two friends, his eyes showing the emotion that he was trying to bottle up inside.
"What happened?" he asked in a very small voice.
The remainder of the "Eleven", as Naruto had discovered was the name of their group, was standing in the hospital room beside him, many of them looking down, up, anywhere just not at their two comatose friends. They couldn't bear to see them like this. Lee just slapped himself and downed the entire contents of his flask in one gulp.
Neji stepped forward, looking Naruto in the eyes. Naruto noticed an unbearable amount of sorrow hidden in Neji's mask of indifference. "They…we were attacked. I was leading a group of us on a mission. Me, Tenten, Lee, and Shino were told to locate and retrieve a missing-nin, dead or alive. Shino was with our team to locate him, as he had placed a tracking bug on him in a previous mission. We discovered this nin, and engaged him. Soon after, we discovered that the missing-nin had a unique bloodline, one that we were not prepared for. It was my fault…I…I…I should have foreseen the complications. Instead, we rushed in blindly. If it were not for my Byakugan, I too would be in this condition…Lee was almost hit, but Tenten was able to push him out of the way at the last moment, at the cost of sacrificing herself in the process. He is taking it rather hard…and so am I. The doctors…they say it's possible for them to wake up…but with my Byakugan, I can see through their deception…It's not good Naruto."
Naruto looked away from Neji's eyes, gazing intently upon the forms of the injured, their chests slowly moving up and down. At this moment, the Godaime Hokage decided to explode into the room.
The door flew open, slamming into the wall, and Tsunade strode forward quickly. Stopping suddenly, she looked to her right, noticing the silent, solemn crowd that had gathered. Taking the hint, she too decided to tread lightly, not to disturb those paying their respects.
"Tsunade-obaachan…" mumbled Naruto. "This…this was done by genjutsu?"
"Hai, Naruto. The subject had a powerful bloodline limit that we were not aware of. I assure you, we are doing everything possible to help your friends."
"That…that might not be necessary, Tsunade-obaachan…"
"What are you talking about Naruto?! Surely you aren't talking about giving up on them?!"
Hearing these words, Lee and Neji both took an aggressive stride forward, intentionally placing themselves between Naruto and their two fallen comrades.
"No no! It's nothing like that!" exclaimed Naruto, waving them off frantically. Lee had looked pretty angry, and drunk. Not a good combo. "Here, maybe I should just show you…"
Naruto walked over to the two beds, positioning himself between them. He reached out his arms and touched each shinobi lightly on the forehead with his fingertips. He closed his eyes, seeming to be meditating for several moments, then opened them, grinning at the crowd in the room.
"Here goes nothing." And with that, a flare of chakra pulsed out from Naruto, flowing through his arms and fingers, colliding with the foreheads of the two still forms. After that, Naruto removed his fingers and stepped back slightly.
"What did you do Naruto-kun?" asked Hinata, watching intently with her Byakugan. She could see Naruto's chakra flowing through their heads, through their torsos, branching out to their arms and legs.
"Give it a moment…"
Within a minute, both Tenten and Shino lurched up into a sitting position, throwing their hands up in a defensive stance. They glanced around the room and relaxed a bit.
Tsunade, shocked by their recovery, spoke up. "Relax, you're in the hospital. You've just woken up from comas."
Tenten rubbed the back of her head, wincing. "How long?"
"About six weeks now…"
Tenten gaped, and Shino's eyebrows rose significantly.
"Why…why so long Hokage-sama?" asked Tenten, slightly alarmed.
"To be honest…we had no cure. We could not wake you and I was afraid you were brain dead. But…it seems someone has some explaining to do." Tsunade finished, crossing her arms and looking expectantly at Naruto. The rest of the room followed suite, watching intently.
Naruto sighed. "Fine, fine. I wasn't planning on telling anyone this; it ruins my element of surprise. Basically, I have a bloodline limit."
Sasuke sneered. "Aren't you the one who used to spout all that crap about how people with bloodline limits and from clans shouldn't be looked upon higher than others? Now look at you. You've got a blood limit yourself. Hypocrite."
Naruto cringed. "Yeah, your right. Your still an arrogant bastard though. But my blood line is, in my honest opinion, perfect."
"I'm sure that's not biased at all," Kiba said, rolling his eyes.
"Basically, in a radius of about fifty meters, I can act as a sort of dampening devise. In other words, I can turn other people's bloodline limits off and on as I choose. Like that Sasuke-teme?!" he yelled jauntily at the brooding Uchiha in the corner. In response, he only got a look of dejection, much to Naruto's glee.
Neji paused, hand to his chin. "So that's why my Byakugan wasn't working in the forest…"
Sasuke glared at Naruto. "And you turned my Sharingan off when we were…" He stopped talking when Naruto frantically started waving him off. It wasn't time for them to know about the demons sealed in his swords.
"So…since this genjutsu was based on someone's bloodline limit…you just…turned it off?" Tsunade looked on in awe. This blood limit was almost as if Naruto had invented it himself. He had always believed that people shouldn't judge others by their clan, or their blood limits, and his own ability mirrored that. Everyone was equal with Naruto.
"Pretty much!" Naruto grinned happily, ecstatic that he could restore his two comrades. He looked up to see Lee, bent over on his hands and knees, face in the ground, prostrate before Tenten.
"Tenten-san!"
"Lee-kun?"
"Please forgive me for my mistake, if it weren't for me, it would be I that lost six weeks of my life!" He remained unmoving, still on his hands and knees, much to Tenten's embarrassment.
"Uh, sure Lee-kun…do I smell sake?"
At this point, Neji made his presence known. "It is good to see you awake, Tenten. Lee has been drinking lately to dull his pain of losing you and Shino because of his mistake. Now that you have awakened however…"
Lee leapt to his feet. "I will never drink again! That is the price I will pay to have Tenten back!" he cried, tears streaming down his face as he lifted one fist in the air as if to prove his seriousness.
Naruto grinned at this interaction, and looked over at Shino, being checked over by Tsunade and his former teammates, Kiba and Hinata. Looking that way, he noticed Sasuke, who gave Naruto a slight jerk of the head. Naruto, understanding the meaning, followed Sasuke outside.
"Yeah, what do you want you bastard?" Naruto clearly hadn't forgiven him for trying to mess with his swords.
"Fight me."
"What the hell? You're reunited with two of your friends and this is all you can think of?"
"Friends? Don't make me laugh. I don't care about them. I don't care about you. All I care about is getting stronger so I can kill Itachi."
"Dammit, you idiot! Haven't you changed at all these past four years? You still won't accept that bonds are what make you strong! You're so arrogant and caught up in the Sasuke parade that you refuse to admit that the bonds you make in your life are what make you human! Revenge won't give you power, neither will hatred!"
"Hn. Preach that crap to someone else weaker than you. I am strong enough to beat you, with or without your bonds. And when I do, you will realize that friends only make you weak."
Naruto glared at the boy. "Let's go," and with that, they disappeared in streaks of color, flying towards a training area.
Jiraiya, who happened to be in the hospital, erm…admiring the nurses…noticed the two men dash out of the building. He sighed, as he stopped his ogling and opened the door where Tsunade was.
"Tsunade? Can you come here a second?" Jiraiya asked cautiously. He knew the events would not be taken well.
Tsunade glanced back at her two patients, who seemed to be doing well, especially with all of their friends chatting amiably amongst themselves. It wasn't often that the "Eleven" was able to live life regularly. Usually it was life and death situations, and seeing them like this made Tsunade smile warmly. She stepped out of the door that Jiraiya was holding open for her.
"What is it Jiraiya? I thought you'd be gone for the day doing your 'research'." With that, Tsunade gave him a fierce glare, but Jiraiya shook it off.
"Naruto and Sasuke just ran off. I doubt it was to get some tea together"
"Shit! What is wrong with those two idiots?!" Tsunade opened the door again, sticking her head inside. "Get up! We have a class A priority emergency! Kiba, track Naruto and Sasuke, the rest of you, follow them and take any measures that you must in order to stop them from tearing the village apart!" As she finished her last syllable, the Eleven vanished, even the two who had been comatose for 6 weeks.
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"Alright Sasuke-teme! Are you ready to get your ass handed to you?" growled Naruto, pounding his fist into his hand as he took an aggressive step forward. Sasuke stood before him, standing straight up, not even taking a defensive stance or giving Naruto the respect to even look him straight in the eye. Sasuke wore an all black training robe, tied at the waste with a white ribbon. He had a sword hanging loosely from his left hip, and, judging from the size of the sheath, it was a katana. Hanging from Sasuke's right hip was a shorter sword, most likely a kodachi. (A/N: Man, I actually did some research on this. A katana is basically a "longsword", with one edge, and slightly curved. The kodachi is a shorter sword, and is around the same length as a wakizashi, commonly referred to as a shield sword, as it was often paired with another sword to maximize it's use)
Sasuke bristled. "Hn. As if a dobe like you could even touch me. You won't even be able to see me!" The last few words came from different areas around Naruto, as he was trapped in a veritable whirlwind. Sasuke was moving so fast that he was leaving after images around Naruto and was kicking up leaves and dust, creating a cyclone of debris and images of Sasuke.
He's fast! This is…this is amazing! Naruto was shocked. His speed didn't even compare to this. This was incomprehensible. His jaw was slack jawed as he looked in awe on the spectacle around him.
"Heh, already stumped dobe? Well, I'll end it quick then, no need to embarrass you anymore than I already have…" At that moment, all of the after images began to descend upon Naruto in streaks of black.
Sasuke smirked as he flashed toward Naruto's back, knowing the blonde before him would not be able to discern his attack out of the many images attack Naruto. This was his favorite opening technique. Sasuke's speed was surprising, but when adding bunshin to the mix, it was devastating. His leg came swiping in a viscous roundhouse kick, preparing to knock Naruto's head off of his shoulders.
But before the leg could get within six inches from his target, Naruto pivoted slightly, bringing his arm up, blocking the blow. What made Sasuke even angrier was the fact that the kick that could have toppled trees was blocked without even making Naruto's arm recoil from the force. No, his arm was still, frozen, as if he had just stopped a feather from hitting him in the face. What unnerved Sasuke was the fact Naruto wasn't looking at him.
"Meh, Sasuke…your speed is amazing…you're way faster than me. But my reflexes have been trained constantly for years. Ero-sennin would attack me randomly and I would have to defend myself. Your attacks might work on other people, but I can block most attacks out of instinct alone. I like to think that while I'm not fast, I'm quick."
Sasuke gritted his teeth. He would just have to put that theory to the test, wouldn't he? Sasuke stood up to his full height. "Hmph. I doubt it dobe. I'll show you how wrong you are."
Naruto's body seemed to be moving on its own, blocking a flurry of kicks and punches, coming from all sides and angles, several trying to come in below his guard and propel him into the air where he would not be able to get the right leverage to guard. But every time it happened, Naruto would instinctively bring his leg high into the air, preparing for an arcing axe kick, which would come straight down on Sasuke's exposed head should he continue his attack.
Sasuke was frustrated. He was throwing every trick in the book at Naruto, from butterfly kicks, to advanced taijutsu maneuvers, on one occasion trying to just tackle him. But it was all for naught. Naruto moved with a precision that Sasuke had never seen before. His footwork was picture perfect, and every move Naruto made was a move that melded into the next move he would make. He was fluid, precise, exact.
"This is my Wind style," Naruto said, still dodging Sasuke's relentless attacks. "My elemental affinity is wind, so I created a taijutsu style resembling wind. You see Sasuke?" Naruto continued, stepping back, effectively dodging a particularly nasty crescent kick. "This style is fast, it flows, and it's elusive. But, unlike water, my wind style can also cut," Naruto dictated, connecting with Sasuke's chin as he brought up his knee to counter Sasuke's sweep kick. Sasuke flipped backward to try to cushion the blow, but when he hopped backward to gain some distance, he spat out a tooth that had been knocked loose.
"I'll kill you!" Sasuke spat, forming seals, creating Chidori. The sounds of chirping birds filled the forest as Sasuke dashed forward, his right hand trailing behind his body, ready to thrust forward and kill.
"Doubtful," muttered Naruto, "You should know this by now Sasuke, I didn't think you were dumb. Lightning is your elemental affinity. But wind beats lightning any day of the week…Futon: Daitoppa!" Naruto's favorite wind technique shot forward, blowing leaves and dust forward, causing Sasuke's approach to slow and his robes to billow with the fierce wind. Naruto loved this technique, first and foremost, because it was so effective. It was a simple jutsu really, but in the right hands, could be devastating. It could be used offensively, to blow the opposition away, or even slow them down so that Naruto could follow up and take them out. Or, as he used it here, it could be used defensively.
Sasuke threw his palm forward, trying to use his Chidori to create some kind of wind aerodynamic, but he watched in horror as the lightning generated in his palm slowed and began to die down in the fierce winds. As he reached Naruto, his attack had faded away and he was met with a powerful mule kick, sending him flying backwards, clutching his ribs to check to see if anything had broken.
"I see…" he gasped, slowly bringing himself up to a slouched standing position. "Wind beats my lightning…but what about…fire?!" Naruto's eyebrows shot up as Sasuke began making seals at a rapid pace. Over thirty seals had been made in the span of two seconds and Sasuke's hand shot down between his legs again, as if he were making the Chidori again. Only this time, fire erupted from his palm, engulfing his entire hand, and even came midway up his forearm.
"Firebrand!" Sasuke screamed, as he dashed forward at Naruto. Naruto's eyes were wide as saucers. He hadn't expected an original jutsu like this…how could he stop this attack? His wind techniques would just feed the fire…maybe…earth?
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The remainder of the Eleven arrived on scene to see Sasuke dash at Naruto with his destructive Firebrand technique burning around his arm. They looked in shock at his target, who was surprisingly standing stark still, creating seals.
"Hey…I know those seals…he's going to use Doton: Doroku Gaeshi…but Sasuke's attack will cut through that like paper…" Chouji muttered, concern written all over his face.
Naruto finished his seals, as he held the last handseal, waiting for the right moment. If his timing was off, he was dead.
Sasuke shot forward, his eyes blazing hatred and anger. He brought his arm forward, thrusting the fiery palm at Naruto who waited until Sasuke was within a yard of him before he thrust his palms into the ground. "Doton: Doroku Gaeshi!" Immediately, a large wall of stone and earth came flying up from the ground, intercepting Sasuke's attack at the wrist. Sasuke cried out as the sound of his wrists snapping filled the forest.
"Amazing…he used the Earth Shore not as a defensive wall…but as an offensive technique being used defensively…" Shikamaru mused as Chouji nodded his head in agreement.
Kiba scratched his head. "That was a little confusing."
Sasuke lay on his side, his wrist brought in close to his body as he curled up defensively. The Eleven appeared around the two shinobi, and Naruto looked up in surprise. The fight had gotten out of hand.
"Sakura…could you…" Naruto began, the shame evident in his voice. He had not meant to get this carried away.
Sakura strode forward, and kneeled down, trying to get Sasuke's hands out so she could examine them. But Sasuke just moaned and pulled his arms closer to his body. Sakura sighed and poked two of her fingers into the base of his neck, allowing Sasuke to drift into blissful unconsciousness.
Naruto rubbed the back of his head as Sakura healed Sasuke's broken wrists. "Heh, sorry Sakura-chan, didn't mean to get that intense…"
Sakura waved off his apology. "Don't worry about it Naruto. Sasuke's fine, and you were acting in self defense. Sasuke will be pretty upset when he wakes up though…"
"Naruto!" came the deafening voice of the Godaime Hokage. Naruto cringed and turned around slowly. Tsunade stood towering before him, which was difficult, since Naruto was taller than Tsunade. She menaced before him, causing him to cower.
"I was going to promote you to chunnin right now, but now I'm second guessing myself. You obviously can't go one day without causing a major predicament in the village! So! In order to become chunnin, you must defeat one shinobi of my choice!"
At this, Neji, Lee, and Kiba looked on with interest. Neji and Kiba wanted revenge for their losses in their first chunnin exams, and Lee just wanted to fight anything with a heartbeat. They shared a glance between themselves. Which one would get the honor of fighting Naruto?
"I choose…" Tsunade began, every shinobi on the edge of their seats. Naruto was visibly salivating at the prospect of fighting the Hyuuga prodigy, or the master of hard work, or even the Inuzuka's most promising youngster.
"Chouji."
"What?!" yelled four voices unanimously. Chouji just sighed, stepping forward to the center of the ring of trees that Sasuke and Naruto had used as their battle arena.
"Tsunade-obaachan! I wanna fight someone else! Like Neji! Or Lee! Or Kiba!"
"No Naruto! What I say goes, and you WILL fight Chouji for the rank of chunnin!"
"Agh. Fine you old hag." Naruto stepped forward confidently.
"Oh, and by the way, Chouji," Tsunade said, "You can remove the seal."
Chouji just nodded, as he formed a single seal and channeled chakra. A black seal in the shape of a star faded away on the side of his neck. Looking around, Naruto noticed that every one of his friends had a similar seal.
"Hm? Seal?" asked Naruto quizzically.
Tsunade answered impatiently. "Well, you really don't think you could take on nine ANBU members alone, do you? The restriction seal that all members of the Eleven have limits their chakra, as well as their jutsu. We don't want too much of their skills to be shown in routine missions and patrols."
Naruto died a little inside. He had thought he beat nine ANBU. And he was wrong.
"You don't think you were the only one training these past few years, do you Naruto?" asked Chouji jauntily, standing in a very relaxed pose.
Naruto just grinned at that. He inspected Chouji, who had changed by leaps and bounds since the last time he had seen him. Chouji was no longer a heavy boy. He had lost all of his baby fat and changed the way the Akamichi worked. No longer did they rely on their fat to fuel their techniques. Chouji was a living testament to that fact. He was huge, about six feet eight inches, and had broad shoulders. His V shaped torso was the talk of many girls in the village and his arms were like tree trunks. His sinewy muscle shifted under his fishnet undershirt. He also wore a jounin jacket over it, and had very baggy pants that were taped at the ankles. Perhaps even more noticeable than his muscular body was the tattoos that covered his arms. Kanji and symbols would themselves around his huge arms. His red hair had grown out long, like his fathers was.
Naruto whistled. "They sure grow 'em big in the Akamichi clan, don't they Chouji?"
Chouji smiled. Naruto was glad to see that Chouji's kindness had not diminished over the years. "Yep. Big and bigger Naruto."
"Ok, well, lets get this party started."
Chouji bit his thumb and rubbed the blood onto his other thumb, smearing some on both arms. "Kuchiyose no Jutsu!" Two clouds of smoke appeared in Chouji's hands, and after the puffs cleared, the Akamichi wielded two massive hammers, ridiculously sized for anyone else. But Chouji handled them with grace and precision, which was strange seeing as each hammer must have weighed at least fifty pounds. Each was made of solid steel, with leather wrappings around the handles for grip. Naruto gulped.
"Prepare yourself Naruto!" Chouji called out cheerfully. Naruto got into the basic stance of his wind style and prepared to fight for his life. Chouji's smiling face suddenly disappeared as his face tightened as he ran forward, swinging one of the hammers down in an arcing smash. Naruto spun to the right as the earth was shattered upon impact. Naruto sweatdropped. This was insane.
Coming inside Chouji's guard, Naruto plowed a fist into Chouji's rock hard abs and felt the muscle give in an inch. Chouji oomphed, but showed no sign of air depletion when he swung his massive hammer down again. Naruto jumped back, his feet rising from the ground for only a second, but it was all Chouji needed. He threw his other war hammer straight into Naruto's side, connecting with Naruto's ribs. He felt three of them shatter as he flew away.
Kiba whistled. "Nice one Chouji."
Chouji grimaced. "I heard his ribs shatter."
The two grinned together. "Ouch."
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"Holy #&ing Akamichi with his !#$# !#$!#ing strength turning my $#ing insides into goo…" muttered Naruto has he reset his ribs by hand, gritting his teeth in pain. He felt the healing chakra of Kyuubi take his newly reset bones and seal them together. Feeling better, Naruto noticed that the hammer that had blasted him away was missing, but then Naruto was forced to instinctively roll to the side as the ground he had been standing on moments ago was decimated. Chouji looked at him, ginning, and Naruto smiled back. This was one of the best fights he had ever experienced.
Naruto retook his wind taijutsu form, slightly holding out one hand, while bending his knees considerably. The other hand was pulled back to his shoulder, ready to lash out quickly and powerfully as a counter. Naruto breathed out, calming himself. He had learned long ago that allowing your emotions to completely guide oneself in a fight was folly. Often times, he would run into a fight blindly, usually leaving him in a very injured state. But whatever doesn't kill you makes you stronger, and Naruto learned a very important lesson from his mistakes.
Chouji heaved his two massive mallets up, resting the heads on his broad shoulders.
"Ready to give up?"
Naruto huffed. "I don't give up."
"I had hoped you would say that," Chouji said, pleased that his fight would last a while longer.
Chouji shot forward, bringing his two war hammers down with tremendous force. Naruto slid over three feet, just enough to dodge the blows and retaliated with a stunning jab to the vulnerable and soft side of Chouji's ribs. Chouji winced and dropped his hammers, falling to one knee. Before he could recover, Chouji felt a knee being planted in his chin and began to topple head over heels, rolling away a few meters.
Naruto stood watching his handiwork, panting heavily. Those two attacks he had thrown at the large Akamichi had been two of the strongest blows he had ever made. He knew that he had to get rid of Chouji's weapons, or he would be killed eventually. It was like with Tsunade: one hit and you're done. Naruto looked down to his side satisfied as he saw the two hammers disappear in twin poofs of smoke.
Chouji stood up unsteadily, rubbing his jaw. That Naruto sure packed a punch. But he had caught him off guard. He had apparently been holding back, but Chouji wouldn't make the mistake of underestimating him again. Biting his thumb again to reopen the wound that had already closed partially, Chouji smeared some on different tattoos on his arms.
Naruto watched in horror as two more puffs of smoke appeared around Chouji's hands, eventually fading away to reveal two steel gauntlets. They were black and brown, and had small spikes on the knuckles. Naruto began to cry inside a little. This was just as bad as those two hammers…
"Oy, Naruto!" Naruto looked from the two scary looking gloves to Chouji's face. "I'm a weapons master, as well as Konoha's finest weapon's smith. All of these tattoos on my arms seals away one of my weapons, so it's pretty pointless to try and take em away from me. I've got more weapons than you could even imagine!"
Naruto gulped. His strategy was to eventually run Chouji out of weapons and then finish him off with a couple of well placed jutsu, but now…Naruto supposed he could try to weaken him up with jutsu instead…
"Katon: Karyu Endan!" Naruto held his fingers close to his mouth as he blew out an intense stream of fire at Chouji. The stream streaked towards the massive Akamichi who stood his ground, only holding his gauntlets out and seemingly absorbed the powerful attack.
"Oy, Naruto! Jutsu aren't effective against my Gauntlets of the Gladiator! They absorb chakra from any chakra based attack, making it useless to fight me any other way than with taijutsu! I got the idea of making something like this after I fought Kisame!"
"Y-you fought Kisame?!"
"Yeah! That shark-bastard put me up in a hospital bed for a few weeks, but he got his share of bruises too! Heh heh heh!"
Naruto's eyes widened. He had been underestimated Chouji. He was obviously holding back. It was time to get serious. Naruto got into his basic wind stance, but this time, slid one foot back and one foot forward, the offensive version of his style. It allowed him to weave in and out of attacks easier, but made dodging attacks a little more difficult than when he had his feet squared.
With amazing speed, Naruto appeared in front of Chouji, his roundhouse kick already halfway to Chouji's head, but Chouji ducked underneath it, swinging his left fist in a wicked uppercut that caught Naruto vulnerable while he was suspended in the air. Rather than feel the satisfying feeling that Chouji had begun to get after clobbering someone, he felt only a small popping, as Naruto exploded into a poof of smoke. Catching movement out of the corner of his eye, Chouji spun around and held his palms out, catching the spinning blue orb held in his opponent's hand.
Naruto grunted, trying to push his Rasengan through Chouji's guard, but the orb slowly began to shrink until it disappeared all together. Chouji reared his fist back and connected with Naruto, who was off balance, in the chest, propelling him back into a tree.
Shit shit shit! Naruto was in a bind. His swift attacks weren't even fazing Chouji, who he assumed would be susceptible to lightning quick attacks, but he was apparently wrong.
Fine. I'll just change my tactics…
Naruto slid into a fighting stance, but Chouji noticed it was much different than the previous one Naruto had used.
"Oy, Naruto, what's up with the new stance? Getting frustrated?"
"Not quite yet Chouji! Wind isn't my only elemental affinity! This is my earth style! Here I come!!" And with that, Naruto flickered in front of Chouji, this time, his foot coming down perpendicular to the ground in an axe kick. Chouji brought his armored hands up to block, but when the axe kick connected with his gauntlets, Chouji was forced into the ground a little, kicking up dust from the ground in a small radius around his feet.
What kind of power is this?!
"I'm coming again Chouji!" Naruto again disappeared, and appeared in front of Chouji again, his axe kick coming down again.
"You're not going to catch me with that same trick again Naruto!" Chouji yelled, bringing his fist forward in a straight armed punch. His superior reach allowed him to connect with Naruto's stomach before the axe kick could connect. But when his fist connected with Naruto, he felt the same annoying feeling from before. A small popping feel. Chouji looked up in anger as the kage bunshin poofed out of existence. Feeling a sense of déjà vu, Chouji noticed a blur in his peripheral vision and spun around quickly, bringing his wide palms out to block any attack that might be thrown.
Naruto pulled back his fist and threw it with all his might, connecting mightily with Chouji's outstretched palms, causing the very earth to quake at the collision. Chouji strained his muscles to repel the vicious attack, but failed to notice that a figure was coming out of the shadow of Naruto.
Out of Naruto's shadow, or, shadow clone, to be more exact, came the true Naruto. Using the same strategy he had used against Zabuza with the Kage Shuriken no jutsu, which hid a second fuma shuriken in the shadow of the first one. Only here, it was a little more complicated. Instead of a second fuma shuriken, hiding under the shadow of the kage bunshin was the real Naruto. With Chouji preoccupied with blocking the powerful attack of the bunshin, Naruto was free to slide under the guard and plant a powerful upward kick into the chin of Chouji, throwing him into the air.
Then, using more kage bunshin as he leapt up, the bunshin used their upwards momentum to kick the large Akamichi higher and higher into the air. All of the spectators held their breath as Naruto finished his "Naruto Rendan", smashing a final axe kick into the gut of Chouji at the peak of their ascent, throwing him down into the ground with an amazing explosion of rock and debris.
Naruto landed outside of the crater created by the large man blasting into the ground. Looking into the cloud of dust expectantly, he was not disappointed to see a large silhouette. Chouji strode out of the cloud, able to fight, but worse for the wear.
"Well, these gloves don't seem to work well against your earth style. I guess I'll have to use my sword."
Naruto raised an eyebrow. "Sword?"
Chouji nodded, dispelling his two gauntlets and smeared some blood that was dripping from his mouth on the palms of both hands. Clapping his hands together, he yelled "Kuchiyose no jutsu!"
A large cloud of smoke obscured Naruto's view of Chouji for a short moment, but when the smoke parted, Naruto almost wished he hadn't seen what he had to face. In Chouji's hands was the largest zanbato he had ever seen. And he had seen some big swords. Kisame's Samehade, Zabuza's Head Cleaver…but this topped em all.
Chouji rested the enormous sword tip down on the ground. The hilt reached the shoulder of the massive 6'8" shinobi, and the blade was as wide as his enormous biceps.
"Meet my zanbato, Gentei (Limit)."
Naruto nodded in acknowledgment. He drew his two swords on his back, but made a silent pact with himself not to use their powers. He would not use the demonic powers against his own friends.
"Then meet my two swords, Hirameki and Fumetsu."
"Let us introduce our swords to each other then," Chouji said, grinning at the prospect of a good sword fight. Frankly, he would be disappointed. Naruto had never actually learned the art of swordsmanship. Jiraiya never used one, so Naruto had taken it upon himself to teach himself, which mostly involved him fighting off hordes of shadow clones with his swords. Most of his moves involved long, sweeping slashes to maximize the amount of clones he could destroy with one attack, and he had never fought against another sword.
Naruto sped forward, on hand holding Fumetsu in the lead horizontally and the other hand holding Hirameki behind him, ready to slash. Chouji hefted his massive sword and twisted it, showing a grace that would seem impossible on a blade of that size. But Chouji's strength was so great that the blade was not only wieldable, but comfortable.
Fumetsu clashed with Chouji's zanbato, Gentei, sending sparks showering to the ground. Naruto smirked, thinking he had won, swinging Hirameki out from behind him at Chouji. Chouji expertly shifted his zanbato's long blade to intercept the attack, even while blocking Naruto's other sword at the same time.
Naruto growled and pushed both of his swords harder, as if to break Chouji's guard, but Chouji just scoffed, using his enormous strength to brush Naruto off.
Naruto skidded a few feet until he came to a stop. Holding his swords in a cross fashion, which looked cool but was pretty useless in a real battle, Naruto scowled at his opponent. Chouji was a true weapons master. He was far above and beyond Naruto in his kenjutsu skills, and his strength was greater as well.
"Ok Naruto, I'm going to end this now!" yelled Chouji, leveling his long sword parallel to the ground, pointing it at Naruto.
Chouji began to channel his chakra around him to the point where it was visible. Then, the chakra began to spread down to the hilt of his zanbato, traveling to the blade and down it to the tip.
"Kousen!"
A wide beam of refined chakra shot out from the tip of the blade, streaking towards a wide eyed blonde. Not having enough time to avoid the fast moving attack, Naruto instead held his two crossed swords in front of his body to defend himself. Chouji watched in interest as Fumetsu took the beam head on and remain unscathed after the beam dissipated.
Chouji's eyebrow's rose. "That's interesting…what an interesting guy." And with that, Chouji fell like a massive tree, falling limply to the ground.
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Chidori- "One Thousand Birds": Kakashi's original jutsu, the user charges chakra into their hand creating lightning. Then, using high speeds, the user can stab through virtually anything.
Firebrand- Sasuke's original jutsu, obviously made using the same concepts as Chidori, only using fire as the medium.
Doton: Doroku Gaeshi- "Earth Release: Earth Shore Return": after striking the ground with their hands, the user causes a large wall of earth to rise from the ground, although it can be drilled through or pierced.
Kuchiyose no jutsu- "Summoning technique": the user can summon a variety of things, summon animals, weapons, supplies, etc. Chouji stores weapons in the seals tattooed on his arms and summons them in battle.
Katon: Karyu Endan- "Fire Release: Fire Dragon Flame Missile": This technique exhales a long stream of incredibly hot fire from the users mouth.
Hirameki- "Flash of Lightning": one of Naruto's swords, holds the four-tailed demon Hirameki, and has the power of increasing one's speed many times over.
Fumetsu- "Immortal/Indestructible": one of Naruto's swords, holds the five-tailed demon Fumetsu, and is indestructible and can break any guard.
Kousen- "Beam": Chouji channels his chakra into his zanbato Gentei and releases it all at once, projecting a powerful beam attack in the direction he points the sword. It apparently drains him quite a bit.
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Ok, sorry about the long update. I actually had 2000 words of this finished within a day of my last update, but I kinda forgot about it for a few weeks after that. I hope you liked my fight with Chouji. I was just trying to set the bar on how strong those of the "Eleven" really are. Btw, if you're wondering, they will be the Twelve Swordsmen of the Hidden Leaf, and they'll all have at least on sword. Hope you liked what I did with Chouji.
Oh, and for those of you who are curious, or maybe angry, Sasuke doesn't suck. He had his restriction seal, severely hampering his abilities. And, in case you haven't noticed, Sakura has changed for the better. It's all about the journey folks, all about the journey.
Read and Review!! AHAHA! My longest chapter ever!!!