Author's Note: Someone asked me if Naruto knows Senjutsu (the Sage techniques) in this story. I began writing this prior to Naruto's sage training with the toads, so I had not planned on incorporating it. I'm still debating, mostly because we do not yet fully know/understand how it works and how he uses it. I may very well incorporate it later as it looks like it'll be loads of fun, but at present, Naruto does not know Senjutsu in this story.
Disclaimer: Naruto and etc. aren't mine, but there is a growing collection of original characters that will undoubtedly make their appearances.
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Namikaze Brothers Arc One : Magirekomu Bettenchi(to be lost in another world)
By Renatus
Chapter 04 – Akusen (a close contest)
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Five weeks after arrival…
Naruto walked through Konoha's streets slowly, his arms crossed behind his head and enjoying the warmth of the sun. The restaurants and food stands along the street wafted smells and scents across his nose, making his stomach rumble at the prospect of food. He smiled behind his scarf at the thought. He had just eaten.
"Kinatsu-kun," a voice said from his side. Naruto glanced down at the woman walking next to him. Kushina smiled at him, her red hair was loose and trailed down the entire length of her back, a chunk of it draped over one shoulder and brushing against her stomach as she walked. She was dressed in civilian clothes, a long green jumper over slim pants and sandals. She was much more healthy and lively now, five weeks after the Kyubi's attack and the death of her child. Of course Naruto didn't see her all that often and he didn't ask, so he wasn't sure how she was really handling her child's death. But Naruto loved her smile, and gave every opportunity to see it, when he could ignore his emotions long enough to be near her.
"Hai, Kushina-san?" he said, letting his hands fall to his sides.
"Are you ready for the Jonin Trials?" she asked.
Naruto shrugged, "I suppose so. If they're anything like the Chunin Exams I guess I'll be alright."
"They are a bit different." She said, then smiled. "But I'm not supposed to say anything."
"Ah, Kushina-san! Come on. Give me a hint or something."
Kushina chuckled, "No, I don't think so."
Naruto pouted behind his scarf even though he knew she couldn't see it. She seemed to know what he was doing anyways and laughed, reaching up to pull on his ponytail.
"I'll be watching, you know." She said. "Since I'm a Jonin, I'll be in the stands."
"Be sure to put in a good word for me then."
"I doubt I'll need to." Kushina said, "Minato thinks very highly of you, you know."
"He's also really hard on me." Naruto grumbled, thinking of the few quick sparring sessions they had had over the past couple weeks. The Fourth had pushed Naruto's limits, what little Minato gave him time for. The Fourth seemed to enjoy seeing how quickly he could knock him out, which just irritated Naruto to no end. Naruto knew that his speed wasn't the best, however much he had improved over the years. He was better than he had been, especially with his Hakinkage, but it was not his strength. He was better off standing firm and using the power of his chakra, his endurance and his stubborn will to both take hits and give them. The Fourth was forcing him to find more speed and Naruto was struggling against one of the Yondaime's greatest assets.
"One of these days I'm going to figure out that Hiraishin (1) of his, and then he'll be in trouble." Naruto said, scowling slightly. "That flash transport technique is annoying."
Kushina laughed, and Naruto smiled at her, happy that she was laughing. They arrived at the stadium then, and Kushina waved and gave him a "Good luck, Kinatsu-kun," before wandering up to the stands. Naruto entered the stadium proper, joining the milling Chunin on the stadium floor.
He stood off the side a bit, watching them interact and looking around the stadium. It was the same stadium that he had been in for his Chunin Exam, but the crowd was considerably smaller. There was also a large group of ANBU, some perched around the top edges of the stadium walls. Naruto wasn't sure he had ever seen so many of them in one place before. He wondered why they were so interested in the Jonin Trials.
Naruto turned his attention to the Chunin. Most of those around him seemed to know each other, or at least somebody. There was a wide range of ages, though most were likely about his age as well – somewhere between eighteen and twenty-something. All were Leaf Shinobi. Naruto recognized a few of them. Genma and Tetsu were among them, two of the few people of the village he had so far interacted with. He also knew a few of the others from his past; Kurenai, Asuma, Gai – among others, all so much younger than he remembered them to be, but easily recognizable to him. It was strange to see them as Chunin instead of as Jonin. They're uniform clothing threw him off a little. It had been rare to see any of the three in anything but their favored clothing. Though Gai still wore a green jumpsuit beneath his vest. The teen was nearly a spitting image of how Lee looked at the same age.
"Attention!" a uniformed ninja said, getting everyone's attention on the floor. "This is the start of the Jonin Trials. All of those present have been submitted and accepted to participate. These trials will take place in two parts. The first is a small-tiered tournament amongst the Chunin that is designed to narrow the field. You will start in teams and then later will fight individually. Once there are only eight left, the remaining will be pitted against Jonin for the second tiered tournament. You all know the rules. If you would all please go to the viewing platform and check the roster posted there for the order of the fights."
Naruto blinked at the short introduction and followed the others up the stairs to the viewing area. There were quite a few Chunin. He could understand why they wanted to narrow them down a bit. He milled with the others, and checked the tournament sheet pasted to the wall. Of the thirty-three Chunin, only eight would last to fight against a Jonin. Naruto wondered if there were always so many who participated.
Naruto found his name, Kinatsu, scripted near the center and paired up with two other names he didn't know under the number seven. Naruto smiled at the reminder of his first team.
"Tch." Someone said near him, "They're only letting eight fight the Jonin." Naruto glanced over to him. Asuma stood there, rolling a cigarette between his fingers and staring at the board with a slight scowl. He was perhaps fifteen, and looked it. The lack of facial hair and the slightly round face made him look young and inexperienced to Naruto, who was used to the quiet calculating eyes and smoke that Asuma had as a Jonin.
"Yeah, and half of us are going to be gone after the team fights." Another said. "Ten teams of three. This will be quick work."
"Confident are you, Mizu?" Asuma said.
"Working in teams of three makes things easier, Asuma." Mizu said. Naruto turned to Mizu, and took note of the other boy's appearance and name. He was lanky and tall, with his hitai-ate twisted to the side of his head. He wore a tan jacket over the Chunin vest, and his sleeves were long enough to hide his hands from sight. Mizu was one of those on his team. Naruto wondered how he fought. He hadn't known the boy as an adult.
"But the teams are scrambled. We're working with people we don't know." Asuma said.
Mizu shrugged and wandered away, obviously bored with the conversation. Asuma scowled after him before returning the scowl to the tournament board, his cigarette twirling between his fingers.
Naruto watched Mizu walk away before moving to the railing and looked at the board across the field. It showed two numbers already, three and eight. Naruto sighed and watched as the two teams made their way to the field.
"Hey, blondie, I don't know you."
Naruto turned to find a girl next to him, her head barely reaching the height of his chin. Her hair was dark, and her eyes were a brilliant red as she looked up at him with a smirk. She was dressed in a short and skirt ensemble with a slim sleeveless top. She was a bit small, and Naruto knew she wasn't more than a few years younger than him. He recognized her immediately. A second girl stood next to her, remaining silent. Naruto didn't know her and she didn't look at all familiar. She was dressed in a light green short kimono, with tall shin guards and a wide tool pouch behind her waist and a sword across her back, its straps hugging her shoulders. Her hair was long and dark, which made her light eyes stand out like silver.
"I don't know you either." He lied, looking at the girl who had spoken to him.
"Kurenai." She said, her smirk growing into a grin. "Yuhi Kurenai."
"I'm Kinatsu."
"Oh? That's it?"
Naruto nodded, and she grinned again, gesturing to the girl beside her. "This is Shimizu Nanami."
Naruto looked at the second girl, who watched him with unreadable eyes. She didn't speak a word, so Naruto remained silent in return. She was slightly unnerving, but at the same time it made him curious about her. He had no idea who she was. Neither her face nor her name sparked any memory. She held herself proudly, with a quiet confidence that put Naruto in mind of Neji after he had gotten the stick out of his ass. It made her attractive and him cautious. Neji had developed a subtle, deadly air about him, and the silver-eyed Nanami had one very similar.
"Well, Kinatsu. I'll be keeping my eye on you." Kurenai said.
"Sure, Kurenai-chan." He said. Kurenai frowned at him but otherwise didn't respond. She looped her arm through Nanami's and led the other girl away. Naruto watched them cross to the other side of the viewing room before turning his attention to the fight starting in the arena.
"Careful with her." Naruto turned to find Genma next to him, the senbon twitching slightly as he settled against the railing.
"Oh?" Naruto said, watching the other boy.
"She's unpredictable." Genma said, then smirked around the needle.
"Which one?"
"The Shimizu."
"The Shimizu?"
Genma nodded. "She's one of the Shimizu clan."
"Eh, Shimizu, huh?" Naruto hadn't heard of them before. "Why is she so unpredictable?"
Genma shrugged. "She just is. It's her nature. Unpredictable, cold, murderous, nasty in a taijutsu (2) spar or when given a pick up line. Did I mention murderous?"
Naruto watched the other boy shudder slightly, and smiled at the thought of the strange girl getting such a reaction out of him. Genma's words didn't make Naruto any more cautious about her. He had not heard of the Shimizu clan before, and Genma just made him all the more curious about her.
"She sounds interesting." Naruto said, causing Genma to look at him a bit wildly. "I wouldn't mind facing her in a match."
"You're crazy, blondie." Genma said, rolling his senbon to the other side of his mouth.
Naruto chuckled. "It's not the first time I've heard that."
Genma hummed in response and turned his attention to the match below.
"So what exactly are these Jonin Trials about, anyways?" Naruto asked.
"Eh?" Genma turned his attention back to him. "What, you've never participated in one before?"
"No."
Genma shrugged and looked back to the arena. "They should call it the Chunin trials, really." He said, "The Jonin have a tournament that they do earlier in the year I heard. These Jonin Trials are for the Chunin to compete against each other and possibly face a Jonin in a fight, and usually not too many actually make Jonin because of them."
"Oh? So what's the purpose?" Naruto asked, "Are they just for fun?"
"Maybe." Genma said with a chuckle. "I suppose they give us Chunin an opportunity for some friendly sparring action. That and the Jonin and Council are usually watching most of it, so they can get a good look at our skills. Some Chunin get promotions within the few weeks after."
"So winning the tournament doesn't mean you'll make Jonin, then?"
"Ha! No Chunin has ever won this thing!"
Naruto looked at him with some surprise, his eyebrows raised. "No one?"
"Yeah." Genma said, smirking at him around the senbon, "No Chunin has ever won once the Jonin join in. Some make it past their first match or two, but the tournament continues until all the Chunin are gone. The Jonin always win in the end. They pair up difficult opponents on purpose. If a Chunin is proving to be really good, they'll match him with a top Jonin."
"Huh." Naruto said, turning his eyes back to the fight in the arena with a growing smirk. "This should be fun, then."
Genma stared at him, his mouth a bit slack as he realized that Naruto was dead serious and not at all kidding around. Naruto really did think that the tournament was going to be fun. He was looking forward to battling the Jonin. He wondered who he would be matched with after he got through the early rounds.
oooOoooOoooOooo
Watching the Jonin Trials was entirely different from the Chunin Exams. Naruto was alternately impressed, shocked and disappointed with the Chunin battling on the field. The matches either dragged on much longer then the Genin's battles, or were over remarkably fast.
Few of the Chunin left the field very injured. They all seemed to be saving their strength for the possibility of facing down a Jonin later. While Naruto understood the mindset, it made the fights seem a bit tame. Naruto's experience with his only Chunin Exam had left many of his fellow Genin very much injured and unable to continue even if they had won their duel. He wondered if his generation had just been that much more tenacious, or if it was normal for two Genins to beat each other so severely while the Chunin held restraint.
Each team's teamwork varied. Some worked flawlessly together, and others struggled a little at the beginning. One team clashed against each other through their entire fight and ended up walking – one was carried – off the field after an embarrassingly short skirmish. Genma's team lost, though by no fault of his own. His two teammates – both younger than him, argued and postered while their opponents taunted them. The two boys had been torn through by their opponents. Genma was a bit more gracious and he took two down with him. Naruto was pretty sure that the two wouldn't be able to fight at full capacity for a while. The third got Genma while he had been busy with the others.
After an hour there was only two teams left to fight, seven and ten. Naruto glanced at the board as the teams below him finished their fight and began to leave the arena. His team's number flashed on the board and Naruto smiled a bit. He was anxious to join in the fun.
He watched as a couple near him turned to the stairs before he jumped over the railing and fell to the arena floor below. He landed easily, crouched low to the ground in order to cushion the fall. He grinned and crossed the field, nodding to the Jonin acting as referee.
The others joined him, and Naruto looked his two teammates over. The boy – Mizu – was his age and a bit taller and thinner. He was tall and lanky and the crooked hitai-ate put Naruto in mind of Zabuza, though Mizu wasn't much like the missing-nin otherwise. Mizu looked at him coolly, a bit aloof but not hostile. The dark-haired girl next to him was petite, and wore a split skirt over her pants and short-sleeved blue top that had yellow flowers down its front. She smiled at him politely, and Naruto nodded in return.
"My name is Mori Aoi." She said.
"I'm Kinatsu." Naruto replied, and turned to Mizu.
"Ishikawa Mizu." He said, pushing his brown hair out of his eyes and turning to face the other team. Naruto shrugged and followed, sizing the others up. Tetsu stood in the middle, alternating between grinning at them and giving scowls to her two teammates. They seemed to know each other, and not necessarily get along. The two boys were glaring at each other over Tetsu's head.
"Know anything about them?" Naruto asked. One of them was tall and wide. He could probably hit pretty hard, but Naruto would've been surprised if he was very fast. The other one glaring was just as tall, but not nearly as broad, and had wraps around his legs and arms, with gloves covering his hands. Tetsu had settled for ignoring her teammate's silent glaring contest and smirked over at them instead.
"The one in the middle is Saotome Tetsu," Aoi said, "She's pretty fast and agile."
"She's crazy." Mizu said.
"And good at hand-to-hand." Naruto said. His two teammates glanced at him and he shrugged, not bothering to explain how he knew her.
Naruto watched as Tetsu talked to the other two. Her auburn hair was pulled into a messy ponytail, and she was shaking a fist at the two boys.
"Any of them genjutsu (3) users?" Naruto asked.
"Not really. The other two are strength based." Aoi said. "Haro and Iwabuta. They don't like each other much."
"I can tell." Naruto said as the two continued to shoot glares at each other over Tetsu's head.
"Haro is the thinner one." Aoi continued, "He's pretty fast and has good accuracy, and Iwabuta can take hits and get back up really well. They both use weapons."
Iwabuta was clearly older, and Haro though tall, was young. Haro's hair was dark and spiked up around his head wildly, while Iwabuta's lay more tame around his ears. Both had weapons strapped to their backs. Naruto could see the handles of large kunai crossed behind Haro, and something like swords on Iwabuta.
"Hmm." Naruto glanced at his two teammates. He knew nothing about them. Mizu was confident, and Aoi was small and polite. Naruto had no idea how to work with them, but he wasn't too worried about it. He was always better at making things up as he went along anyways. "Well, how do you want to do this then?"
Mizu turned to look at him with a raised brow, before returning his attention to the other team, who had spread out from each other a bit. "I'll take Haro." He said, training his eyes on the other boy.
"By yourself?" Naruto said.
Mizu glared at him, and didn't respond.
Naruto shrugged and eyed Aoi. She was looking between the two others thoughtfully.
"Do you have a preference, Aoi-chan?" Naruto asked, "Since I guess we're going to go one-on-one and all."
Aoi gave him a small smile. "I don't mind. I'll see what I can do against Iwabuta."
Naruto eyed the big guy, noting the young man's armor and swords strapped to his back. Iwabuta looked like he could be from Chouji's clan, but he didn't have the facial markings, and his hair was black instead of the soft brown. He was easily three times the size of Aoi.
"Why don't we try to separate them and take them on together?" Naruto asked.
Mizu glanced behind him, and shot forward, pulling a kunai from his pouch as he charged at Haro. The other team was spread out now, and largely on their own. Naruto watched Haro dodge and retaliate with a few shuriken.
Naruto sighed and looked at Aoi. "Should I help him?"
"He wouldn't appreciate it." She said, keeping her eye on Iwabuta as the large guy edged closer to them. "He was always a bit of a loner."
"Yeah, but he isn't alone now." Naruto grumbled.
Aoi chuckled lightly. "That's just the way he is, I guess."
"You know him, then?"
"He was on my Genin team." Aoi said.
"Oh." Naruto looked back at Mizu, who had put some distance between himself and Haro and was now across the field from them. Mizu was standing with a kunai in one hand, staring down Haro with a cold look that didn't seem to faze the other one bit.
Suddenly a rain of shuriken came at them and Naruto turned his attention to the big guy, Iwabuta. Naruto was about to dodge out of the way when Aoi's hands flew through a series of hand seals and slammed her hands to the ground.
"Earth Release: Earth Wall Defense!" she said and the ground rose up around them, guarding them from the shuriken. Naruto could hear them hit the wall on the other side, and he gave the girl a smile, knowing that she would be able to tell the expression despite his scarf masking his face.
"Nice!" Naruto said, forming a long familiar seal in front of his chest. "My turn! Shadow Clone!"
He grinned as a dozen clones bounded over the top of the wall in the direction of Iwabuta, half of them yelling taunts as they went. Naruto gave Aoi another grin as he sprinted towards the third member of the other team.
"Come on, shithead." Tetsu called, pulling a kunai. "You're mine."
"I'm all yours, Tetsu-chan!" Naruto grinned. He wasn't about to go as easy on her as he had before. He wanted to end his preliminary matches quickly to save his strength for matching up against the Jonin later. Naruto pulled a few shuriken from his leg holder and formed the seal for his shadow clones.
Tetsu was vastly underestimating him and he really didn't like it.
oooOoooOoooOooo
"I'm going to kill you." Tetsu growled at him. Naruto looked over at her with a raised eyebrow. She was standing against the railing of the viewing chamber beside him, glaring at him darkly. Bits of dirt still clung to her clothing and hair, which caused Naruto to chuckle. He had ended their fight with the same trick he had used before: pulling her into the ground by her ankles. He really just did it to add insult to injury. He had her beat before, surrounded with his clones and held at kunai point, but being able to pull the same trick over a ninja twice was something Naruto enjoyed doing whenever he got the chance.
"Hello, Tetsu-chan." He said.
"Did you hear me?"
"Of course." Naruto said, "You said you were going to kill me."
Tetsu narrowed her eyes at him. Naruto smiled which only caused the girl to snarl.
"Well, if I don't get the opportunity, then I'm sure your next opponent will do it for me." She said, and pointed to the newly filled in tournament sheet on the wall.
Naruto glanced at it, already aware of where his name had been placed among the fifteen remaining Chunin. They were past the team sparring now, and with the odd number of Chunin, one had received a buy to the next round. Naruto wasn't lucky enough to be the one, not that he was complaining. His first match was against Maito Gai.
"You can't beat him, you know." Tetsu taunted. Naruto looked back at her and grinned, his expression looking much like Kakashi's masked grins.
"I'm not worried." Naruto said.
"He's tougher than you think."
Naruto shrugged and glanced at the board in the arena. His name appeared next to Gai's and Naruto grinned at the girl next to him again.
"I think I can handle Maito Gai." Naruto said. "Green Beast of Konoha or not."
Tetsu didn't look like she quite believed him, but didn't say anything as he walked away to the stairs. Naruto really wasn't too worried about facing Gai as a Chunin. He had sparred with Lee enough times to know what to expect.
oooOoooOoooOooo
Naruto looked the man over as Gai made his way across the arena field. He looked the same, though his face was younger and he was gangly in the way that only adolescents were. He couldn't have been older than fifteen. He looked so much like Lee did at that age that Naruto had a hard time separating the two in his mind, especially once Gai struck his 'nice guy' pose across from him, his teeth sparkling white in the sun.
Naruto resisted the urge to roll his eyes and simply smirked back at him, ignoring the man's words about the power of youth or whatever nonsense he was spouting.
The referee motioned for them to start and Gai settled into a familiar ready stance.
"Come then, my opponent!" Gai called, "Face the Green Beast of Konoha!"
"As you wish." Naruto grinned widely and obeyed.
Naruto charged and circled around Gai to throw a punch at his lower back. Gai dodged quick enough to save his kidney and jumped forward, kicking backwards as he went. Naruto arced around him and charged in at the green-clad boy again, flashing through hand seals quickly. Just as he closed in on Gai he called out his attack, shifting to the side to dodge Gai's three-kick combo.
"Wind Release: Wind Hammer!" Naruto said, and smiled as a blunt force of wind slammed into Gai at close range, throwing the boy across the arena ground to slam into the wall with a dull thud.
Naruto didn't move from his spot as he watched Gai push himself to his feet. He knew how that wind attack felt. It hit hard and fast and felt more like an iron wall slamming into you than a hammer. Naruto's first time using the technique had sent a giant-sized Chouji tossed through the air to land dazed from the force. Naruto had since learned to curb the amount of power he put into his jutsus, but even restrained, his attacks tended to pack quite a punch.
"That was a wonderful attack!" Gai called, getting to his feet.
Naruto raised an eyebrow at him, half amused and half sorrowful with memories of Gai and Lee's antics. Apparently, Gai had always been this optimistic. Then again, such cheerfulness was only ever out done by Naruto's own stubborn optimism and confidence.
"You took that hit pretty well, Maito-san." Naruto said.
"You will have to hit me harder than that, Kinatsu-san!" Gai called. "I am stronger than I may look!"
Naruto smiled and nodded slightly. He knew about Gai's rigorous training. Only Lee had surpassed the incredible training methods of Gai. Naruto also knew that unlike Lee, Gai could use ninjutsu (4) just fine, even if he didn't do so often.
"And I am faster too!" Gai called, and reached down to undo the weights around his legs. Naruto felt his eyebrows go up at the motion. He had never seen Gai use weights before. While he knew that he was fast and strong, he had never witnessed the man remove weights, or even speak of them outside of Lee's training. Gai dropped the leg weights beside him, both sending out a small cloud of dust as they slammed into the ground. Naruto figured that they weren't nearly the amount that Lee had used as a Genin and not even close to what Lee used later on, but it was enough to make Gai a bit faster without them.
Naruto raised one hand in front of his chin, forming a simple concentration seal. Gai watched him with a wide smile as he settled into a ready stance, one hand outstretched before him with his palm upward.
Naruto's smirk grew as he gathered his chakra and whispered, "Hakinkage."
His chakra swirled within him and he felt it shift under his skin, pulling chakra from his reserves in a steady pulse. Naruto let his hand lower and watched Gai's expression fade slightly to curiosity. Naruto knew what it must be like. His eyes changing color tended to make people think that his eyesight was affected. Naruto had found it to be a good distraction, even though he didn't always take advantage of the misconception.
Naruto felt his smirk turn slightly devious as he shifted slightly, feeling the effects of the Hakinkage's speed and strength in his motions.
"Are you ready, Maito-san?" Naruto called, "Let's see who is faster."
Gai's smile returned and he motioned with his hand in a 'come' motion.
Naruto's grin matched the younger boy's exactly, and for a moment both were perfectly still. A second later they faded into blurs as they charged at each other.
oooOoooOoooOooo
"Damn." Genma said, watching the barely seen blurs of the two fighting in the arena. "They're fast."
"I knew Gai was fast," the boy next to him said, "But I didn't expect that kind of speed from the blonde guy."
"Eh, he's a bit crazy in the head too." Genma said, glancing at the fifteen-year old next to him. "Hey, Asuma, do you know anything about him?"
"Kinatsu?"
"Yeah."
The dark haired boy next to him shook his head. "Not a thing. You?"
"Nope." Genma fiddled with the senbon in his mouth with his tongue. "He's got a lot of chakra, that's obvious, what with the way he uses the Shadow Clones."
"And stamina." Asuma said. "He created nearly a hundred of those clones in his team match. But I've never heard of him before."
Genma shrugged. There were quite a lot of Chunin after all, and taking into account the entirety of Konoha's Chunin numbers, there were quite a few unknowns. It wasn't so strange to encounter another Chunin that you hadn't seen before. The age range alone made that quite a usual occurrence. But Kinatsu was interesting. He stood out enough that it was strange that no one seemed to have heard of him before. That the Fourth had wanted to test his strengths a couple weeks ago just added to the mystery.
Genma watched the blurs that were Kinatsu and Gai, neither slowing at all in their fast sparring. As far as Genma could tell they were both restricting themselves to their speed and taijutsu, which so far seemed evenly matched, though very different from each other.
"What style is he using anyways?" Genma asked, trying to get the fast motions of the two to focus.
"Gai's or Kinatsu's?" Asuma asked.
"Eh, both I guess."
"Gai uses the Strong Fist style." Asuma said. "I don't recognize Kinatsu's. It looks like some sort of bastardization of something else, but I can't put my finger on it."
Genma hummed at the answer and shifted the senbon in his mouth from one side to the other. Asuma's description of Kinatsu's taijutsu style was pretty accurate. Every once in a while the blonde's stance or attack form would look familiar before it deformed into something unpredictable. Genma knew that Gai was a taijutsu master already, and he was impressed that the unknown blonde was keeping up with the green-clad shinobi so easily.
'Actually,' Genma thought as his eyes widened in growing shock, 'Kinatsu is gaining the upper hand.'
"Shit…" Asuma said faintly, and Genma echoed the sentiment.
One moment the two had been battling equally, the next Kinatsu had formed a dozen Shadow Clones and subsequently both swamped Gai with most of them and ran through a series of fast hand seals that resulted in a flash of lightning based chakra in the form of a great cat that mowed down Gai and the clones, crashing them all into the far wall of the arena with a great crash, sending out dust and debris and chakra-laden lightning in a wide arc.
Kinatsu stood near the center of the field, a couple of his clones still near by, staring into the cloud of dust and grass and leaves that hid Gai from view. The dust cleared slowly, revealing Gai's prone form slouched against the wall. His clothes and hair looked a little charred and he struggled to stand, his limbs shaking visibly from the effort. Gai collapsed again and raised his head to look at his opponent.
"Nice one, Kinatsu-san!" he said, his voice strained, but smiling nonetheless.
Kinatsu returned the smile, the expression obvious in his eyes despite the scarf masking his face.
"Match!" the referee called.
oooOoooOoooOooo
Minato watched as Naruto stretched his arms up over his head and let his hands fall to the back of his neck, eyeing his opponent for his fourth match of the tournament. After the Chunin had battled each other and whittled the field down to eight, eight Jonin names were added to the tournament roster, and the tournament began its final stage.
Naruto's first Jonin opponent had been a dark-haired young man who had favored senbon needles and hails of shuriken. Minato knew that he was good with medical jutsus and had good chakra control, but Naruto had beaten him pathetically quickly with his speed-enhanced Hakinkage, and a few well placed Shadow Clones. The medically trained shinobi had found his own senbon needles pointed at his throat, heart and eyes a mere ten minutes into the match, all of the clones around him grinning darkly.
Naruto's second match against a Jonin – who had beaten the first Chunin matched to him – took much longer to end, but had the same result. Naruto had not used his Hakinkage for the second, instead favoring a few obscure jutsus that combined with his relentless shadow clones had won him the match, though Naruto had taken a few good hits from his opponent as punishment.
Minato had been impressed with Naruto's skills over the past couple weeks as they sparred. Naruto proved to be a quick and creative tactician in the middle of a fight, and Minato had found himself taking his eighteen-year-old son from the future seriously, and a bit cautiously. Minato had yet to see Naruto show his full skills in the trials, though he had already managed to impress a few in the arena, especially with his speed and obvious chakra stores. Minato wondered though, how long Naruto could keep it up. Without the Kyubi's chakra and power to draw from, Naruto didn't know what his limits were. Minato hadn't pushed him to find them. In their sparring Minato just pushed the boy for quickness and speed. It hadn't taken him long to find that it was one of Naruto's weaker aspects, but not knowing the new limits of his endurance was another. Naruto couldn't pace himself without knowing what his peak was. Minato hoped that he would find it during the trials.
Naruto's combat skills were clearly at Jonin level, though Minato already knew that from sparring with him. That wasn't even taking into account the shear power that most of his esoteric collection of ninjutsu carried. It was interesting to see how Naruto's fighting style altered slightly with each opponent, using the other's weaknesses against them in an effective, unremitting method.
"He's pretty good." His student said from his side.
Minato nodded and glanced at the ANBU mask behind his shoulder. The red marked dog mask was fitting for the white-haired young man, not that his hair was visible under the hood of his coat.
"Do you wish you were participating, Kakashi?" Minato asked softly.
Kakashi looked at him and Minato could imagine the scowl he was receiving for saying the boy's name when he was in uniform. Kakashi looked back to the arena where Naruto and his opponent were still sizing each other up.
"Maybe." Kakashi admitted. "He's interesting, but I don't think he would be so difficult."
Minato chuckled lightly, making Kakashi scoff in return.
"His stamina and chakra levels may surprise you." Minato commented. "I don't think Kinatsu has yet begun to truly tire."
"He's fought in four matches already." Kakashi said.
Minato nodded, taking in the few injuries that Naruto had from his previous matches. None of them seemed to bother the masked blonde, nor slow him down any. From Minato's experience, taking a few good hits from his opponent seemed to be a part of Naruto's strategy. Or he just didn't care, as he got right back up after any attack dealt to him. Minato had been a little shocked by Naruto's resilience at first.
"Are you telling me that he could continue against Jonin level shinobi?" Kakashi asked, "He has to win this match against Morino and then face the winner of the match between Nara Shikaku and Uchiha Hiroi."
"Hmm, yes." Minato said, "But Shikaku and Hiroi are both Jonin, they won't fight each other in a match. Likely they will chose between each other who will face Kinatsu in the final battle."
"Hiroi was one who faced the Kyubi," Kakashi said, "And survived. He's a strong Shinobi."
"Kinatsu has more strength than you think. I believe he will be able to face Uchiha Hiroi and have a chance against him."
"If Kinatsu wins against Morino Ibiki." Kakashi said. "Ibiki may still be a rookie Chunin, but he's got strength and is good at illusions. Kinatsu hasn't come against a decent genjutsu user in this tournament yet."
Minato was silent for a moment as he thought about Kakashi's words. It was true that Kinatsu had to beat Ibiki, a talented young shinobi, and then would be forced to face one of Konoha's elites, whether it be Shikaku or an Uchiha, but Minato knew that Naruto had far more strength than he was letting on. Even if he didn't win the tournament, Naruto's skills in combat matched and even outranked many Jonin. Minato didn't blame Kakashi for not seeing that strength, Naruto had kept it well hidden so far.
"Kakashi," Minato said, turning to look at his student's eyes through the ceramic mask, "Kinatsu can hold his own pretty well in a spar against me, so long as I don't start using my Hiraishin."
Minato saw both of Kakashi's mismatched eyes open at that and the white-haired ANBU looked back to the two shinobi in the arena field with a bit more speculation. Minato followed his gaze, watching as Naruto finally moved to attack.
"It is entirely possible that he might win this tournament." Minato said softly, knowing that Kakashi would hear his words.
oooOoooOoooOooo
Naruto sized up the boy across from him. Morino Ibiki wasn't actually a Jonin. Like Naruto, Ibiki had wiped the floor with his first two Jonin adversaries and now the two Chunin got to face each other.
Naruto looked the fifteen-year-old over, noticing that while Ibiki wasn'y yet to his full adult height, he already towered over Naruto. Naruto hadn't recognized him at first. Ibiki didn't have the scars crossing his face and his features were still softened with his youth. 'He has hair!' Naruto thought, staring at the strands of brown hair that peaked out from under the bandana hitai-ate. Ibiki's strong shoulders and chest told Naruto that he could probably still hit just as hard, though. Naruto knew that one from personal experience. Morino Ibiki could punch with the strength of a bear swinging a sledgehammer. The man had hit Naruto through a wall once and Naruto was sure that the younger version of the man could do the same thing.
It wasn't Ibiki's size or strength that made Naruto pause though. He had sparred and trained with Chouji and Sakura after all. Naruto was far more worried about what sort of genjutsu Ibiki had up his sleeve. Naruto was weak against the illusions, and he knew that Ibiki would hold a powerful reputation for wielding psychological warfare and genjutsu against his captives. If Naruto recalled rightly, than Ibiki's genjutsu were usually touch-based and damned hard to break out of. Naruto preferred being blasted through a wall. At least he knew what was real.
Naruto dropped his hands back to his side as Ibiki settled into a more ready stance. Naruto wasn't sure how to fight the boy yet, but he did know that he wasn't about to let him touch him. Naruto wanted to avoid the nasty bits of genjutsu that Ibiki took such sadistic joy from in his adult life if at all possible.
Naruto no longer had his Hakinkage activated, though Naruto toyed with the idea of activating it for its strength. He wanted to use as little chakra as he could however. Without the Kyubi, Naruto didn't know how much chakra he really had to draw on. It wasn't easy to measure one's chakra without simply running it out. Naruto hadn't yet done that – not without using personal jutsus that he couldn't measure. He didn't want to spend the few days in the hospital that would come after a chakra exhaustion just for training. A few days in the hospital after he won the Jonin Trials, though, he could do. Gladly. Though after four matches, Naruto was beginning to feel the growing weariness of his body.
Ibiki shifted subtly, Naruto grinned and charged.
Ibiki reacted with taijutsu, a style that clearly spoke of strength rather than speed, and Naruto countered it with quick dodges and unpredictable movements. Ibiki threw a wide punch, barely missing Naruto's nose as he leaned back. Naruto let his body fall, catching himself with one hand and swinging his leg out at the other's feet. Ibiki didn't move, he simply took the blow directly to his shins, and Naruto grimaced at the pain that rippled up his leg. It felt like he had just tried to kick a brick wall. Naruto stared up at him, incredulous, and Ibiki grinned darkly back at him.
Ibiki reached down and Naruto jumped away, somersaulting backwards and rolling over the ground to avoid the man's hand. Ibiki caught his foot, however, and Naruto suddenly found himself flying through the air towards the wall at an alarming speed. He crashed into the wall hard, sending rock and debris out around him. Ibiki followed him, barreling his fist into his gut and making Naruto spit up blood, gasping for air. Ibiki gripped his collar, holding him to the wall and pulled his fist back to his ear and aimed for his face.
Naruto threw his head to the side, feeling Ibiki's fist graze his ear, but a third fist caught him in his sternum, and then a fourth hammered into his stomach again. Naruto gasped and stared and suddenly Ibiki's form morphed and changed into something larger with four arms connected to something that resembled a body. The arms all pulled back and swung towards his chest. Naruto felt his eyes widen at the incoming attack, a little too shocked to react, but knowing now that he was trapped in one of his illusions.
The four fists slammed into him, driving his body deep into the wall and sending stars out in front of his eyes. Naruto coughed and gasped at the pain and tried to pull himself out of the wall again, but his body only jerked in response. He looked down at himself and stared. His chest had been caved in and bits of his ribs and sternum showed white through his tattered skin and clothing.
'It's just a stupid genjutsu!' Naruto told himself, "Break out of it, damnit!'
Naruto forced himself to breathe and let out a large wave of chakra. Suddenly he was no longer crushed into the wall but crouched in front of Ibiki with the other boy's hand placed on the bare skin of his arm. Ibiki was staring at him in shock and Naruto kicked out, making Ibiki stagger backwards and gave Naruto time to flip to his feet and put a good deal of distance between them.
Naruto glared at him from his crouched position, tasting the coppery flavor of blood on his tongue. He scowled and lowered his head, crossing one arm in front of his face and lowering the scarf with the other and spitting out the blood pooling in his mouth. He scowled and replaced his mask, shifting the cloth over his nose as he got to his feet and forced his body to try and relax.
"Shit." Naruto grumbled, rubbing his sternum. It may have been an illusion, but it still felt like he had got pummeled. He sucked in a breath, making sure his lungs still worked. As it was, he still felt like his ribs had been caved into his chest by the blows.
"Congratulations." Ibiki said, staring at him carefully, "You managed to break out of one of my genjutsu."
"Yeah, thanks." Naruto said, one hand still on his chest. "What the hell was that?"
Ibiki rolled his shoulders in a shrug, not answering.
"Fine." Naruto scowled and formed a familiar seal, knowing that Ibiki wouldn't answer. Ibiki was more stubborn than Naruto about some things. Trying to get information out of the man that he didn't want to give was flat out impossible and Naruto knew it. The boy wouldn't become the head of the ANBU interrogation unit because of his looks.
"Shadow Clone!"
"You think I can't put a clone under a genjutsu?" Ibiki commented, looking at the two-dozen clones massed against him. "Shadow clones are solid."
"I don't really care if you can or not." Naruto said. "I just don't want to get touched by you again. I don't like genjutsus. They're a pain in the ass, and yours are even worse. I still feel like I can't breathe."
Ibiki grinned at him and ran his eyes over the clones. "Guess I just have to find the real you, then."
"Good luck." Naruto offered as the masked clones began to charge.
oooOoooOoooOooo
"He broke it." Genma said, stunned.
"Is that significant?" Asuma asked, looking at Genma's shocked expression, the senbon hanging precariously from his loose expression.
Genma nodded and pulled the needle out of his mouth before he lost it, "Morino's genjutsu attacks are touch based, but are impossible to break."
"Guess they're not so unbreakable, huh?" Asuma said.
"You don't get it, Sarutobi." Genma said, looking at the younger boy out of the corner of his eyes, "The Morino family genjutsus have been used in the ANBU interrogations department since Konoha's founding. I don't think they've ever been broken."
Asuma's eyebrows rose and he looked back to the two combatants in the field. "Kinatsu doesn't seem all that hurt by it."
Genma shrugged and didn't respond. He couldn't explain it anyways.
oooOoooOoooOooo
Naruto's clones attacked Ibiki in sets of two to four, landing hits and strikes as they could before either jumping away or poofing out of existence. Ibiki scowled at them as he struck out, and kept one eye on the few that hung back towards the outside of the circling clones around him. All of them attacked him, but there was one only one that had taken a hit and not dissolved into smoke.
"I found you." Ibiki grinned darkly and charged through the clones, feeling satisfaction as his target's eyes widened at his approach. He struck out with one fist and as the blonde dodged to the side Ibiki fisted his other hand in his coat, dragging him back in front of him. Naruto stared at him as Ibiki cocked his fist again.
"You're the real one." Ibiki said and swung, connecting his fist to the side of Naruto's head with a sickening thunk. Naruto reeled back, his coat still caught by Ibiki's hand. He turned back to the larger boy still holding onto him and smirked beneath his mask.
"Not quite." Naruto said, grabbing the man's vest and pulling him in closer. "I'm just the bait."
Ibiki's eyes widened as the man in his grasp seemed to glow from the inside and suddenly exploded in his face.
Naruto shielded his eyes from the blast of his clone and watched as Ibiki was thrown backwards. Ibiki landed harshly, skidding across the ground for a good bit before stopping, slumped near bonelessly on the ground. Naruto's clones dissipated around him and Naruto walked over to his comatose opponent.
Ibiki looked a little worse for wear. His clothes were charred and he had lost his hitai-ate, barring the shock of brown hair on his head. Ibiki groaned and cracked one eye open as Naruto stood over him.
"An exploding clone?" Ibiki asked, trying and failing to rise.
"Bunshin Bakuha." Naruto said. "Clone explosion."
"It took hits." Ibiki said.
Naruto nodded. "Yes. I can hold my clones long enough for them to receive injuries if I want to. I knew that you would target the version of me that didn't dissolve upon being struck."
"Heh. So you set a trap."
Naruto nodded with a small smile. "Yeah."
"Nice job, Kinatsu." Ibiki said and closed his eyes.
Nauto stepped away from him and watched as he was carried from the field. He would be fine, Naruto knew. He had used a weaker version of the exploding clone rather than the more fatal Great Clone Explosion. He didn't want to kill the guy after all. As the medics left with Ibiki two others entered the field. Naruto watched them with only minor interest. He knew that both were Jonin and had made short work of the Chunin unlucky enough to have faced them in the first round of matches with the Jonin. Both had only fought one match each, choosing not to fight each other as the tournament was more for the Chunin and not the Jonin. One of them would be his next and last opponent. Naruto wasn't sure what they were both doing on the field now, though.
"Well, what do you say, Nara?" one of them said. Naruto looked at the Nara, finding the man to look remarkably like Shikimaru. Naruto knew that this was his friend's father, Shikaku, though Naruto had only met the man a few times in his past, and not at all as Kinatsu.
"Fine." Shikaku said, glancing at the man next to him in a somewhat exasperated way. "Whatever."
"Good." The man said, giving Naruto a smirk and turned towards the Hokage's seat in the stands. "Hokage-sama!" he called, "We wish to face this Chunin together, with your permission."
Minato looked at the two Jonin and then at Naruto, not responding right away. Naruto looked at his two opponents again, recognizing that the young man was an Uchiha and likely lived up to his clan's elite status. He knew that Shikaku was smart. Shikamaru had said on more than one occasion that his father was smarter than him. Naruto knew that facing one of them would be a challenge, but facing them both at once would be even harder.
"Oi, oi!" Naruto said, "Two on one isn't fair, you know."
"Life isn't always fair, little Chunin." The Uchiha said.
Naruto scowled.
"No Chunin has ever won these trials." Shikaku said, looking between them with slight boredom.
"Heh. There's a first time for everything." Naruto said. "And I kind of like the idea of winning this thing."
"I'm not about to let you." Uchiha said, "Not on my watch."
Naruto grinned and raised his hands to rest behind his head, turning to face the Fourth. "Alright! I'll take them on, Yondaime!" he said, his grin widening as both the Jonin turned a scowl towards him.
Minato chuckled and sat back in his seat. "Very well, Kinatsu. I doubt I could refuse now that you have so boldly laid your challenge."
Naruto gave him a grin, hidden behind his mask.
"You're confident, blondie." The Uchiha said. "Too confident."
Naruto shrugged and took a few steps back, putting the proper space between them for the start of the match. "So are you, Uchiha." He said.
"Heh. You obviously don't know what you're dealing with."
"Of course I do." Naruto said, "I'm not worried." Naruto grinned at them and watched in satisfied amusement as both of them gave him dark looks.
"Alright." The referee said, stepping up between them. "The final match of the Jonin Trials. Chunin Kinatsu versus Jonin Nara Shikaku and Uchiha Hiroi. Begin."
Naruto didn't move as he watched his two opponents. Nara stood in a slightly slouched position, one hand in a pocket and the other resting in the crook of his neck. The pose was strongly reminiscent of his future son, and it was only the scars stretched across his cheek and forehead and the ratted looking jacket over his vest that made Shukaku stand out from Shikimaru in Naruto's mind. The Uchiha had settled into an easy ready stance, his feet apart with one more forward than the other and his hands resting near weapon pouches. It was a stance that Naruto recognized. It was the same stance that Sasuke and Itachi both used. Though while Hiroi generally looked like an Uchiha, there was a spattering pattern of new scars that stretched down the side of his face and disappeared beneath the collar of his shirt. They were still red, and pulled at the untouched skin of his face and neck in a strange way. Naruto recognized them immediately – not the wound specifically, but the pattern of the scaring. It was from a burn, but not just any burn. It was the fire of the Kyubi's chakra that had caused the damage. Naruto knew it well. He would recognize such a wound immediately. The fox's firey chakra burned and seared in a lightning-arced pattern that wasn't just fire, but seemed to be fire laced with searing lightning.
Uchiha Hiroi had faced the attack of the Kyubi and survived. Naruto was impressed. He would also have to be careful. Surviving such an extensive burn from the Kyubi's chakra proved the man's resilience.
Naruto stood as he had been, his own feet apart, but not dropped into a ready fighting stance. He was tired. His body was strained from the continued matches and use of chakra, and his weapons supplies was running thin. He had not expected to face two Jonin in the final match, though he was excited at the prospect and challenge. 'I just wish the damn fox hadn't left a hole in my head.'
He was feeling the absence of the Kyubi greatly now that his own chakra stores were low. His body still healed quickly, but not as fast as it once had, and he knew that he no longer had the vast resource that was the Kyubi's chakra to draw on. And now he had to face the tag-team effect of one of the greatest Konoha tacticians and an elite bloodline limit.
"Not fun." He mumbled, letting his body drop a little as he continued to watch his two opponents.
The Uchiha made the first move.
Hiroi moved forward in a quick glide, his eyes alighting into the Sharingan as he moved towards him. Naruto pulled a kunai and sidestepped as the Uchiha got close, dodging the slicing strike of the man's hand. Hiroi turned and stabbed, his fingers pulled tight together in a flat blade as he aimed his strike. Naruto deflected the strike, and aimed his own punch. Hiroi tilted his head out of the way and grabbed his wrist, pulling hard. Naruto took a step forward to keep his balance, already swinging his other hand with the kunai as the Uchiha's second fist connected painfully with his stomach.
Naruto grunted, feeling chakra push at his gut from the man's fist. He forced his arm to cooperate and finished his swing, slicing his kunai sloppily across the Uchiha's shoulder and collar. The chakra at his middle flared and died and Hiroi released his wrist as Naruto was pushed backwards by the force of the blow, the air in his lungs rushing out in a gush.
His feet skidded on the dirt and he reached a hand down to rest on his knee as he gulped deep breaths of air into his abused middle. The physical blow hadn't hurt him much, but the chakra laced into the swing had beat deep into his gut, making it a chore to just breath. The muscles of his stomach rippled and clenched in response.
"You're slow, Chunin." The Uchiha said.
Naruto glanced up and glared at the Sharingan looking disdainfully down at him. 'Damn all Uchiha's.' He thought. 'They're all a pain in the ass.'
Naruto straightened as his lungs began to relax back into something like normal. Hiroi looked at him with a hint of surprise, as if Naruto's ability to breathe was unexpected – and it likely was. The chakra-laden fist to his gut had struck right at his diaphragm.
"You're overconfident." Naruto said, slipping one hand into the tool pouch behind his back, feeling the edges of the thin parchments of his tags beneath his fingers.
"Heh." The Uchiha charged and Naruto responded in kind, his kunai glinting in the sunlight. They parried quickly, Naruto forcing his body to find speed that it didn't want to give as he tried to match the Uchiha. Hiroi's strikes didn't hit him physically hard, but seemed to be laced with chakra that enhanced the damage and strength of his hits. Naruto gritted his teeth through the flares of pain each time one of the Uchiha's strikes made it past his guard – which was far more than he was happy with. The Uchiha's Sharingan put him at a disadvantage and he knew it. Naruto didn't have the natural speed needed to work against the Sharingan eyes – eyes that saw at a level of detail that made speed nearly a null point. Hiroi's speed could keep up with anything that Naruto tried to draw on.
The Sharingan's tomoes swirled lazily as they traded blows, pulling up a host of memories laden with emotional baggage, and laying Sasuke's face over that of Hiroi's. Naruto narrowed his eyes and focused on the match and his slowly laid trap, trying to push away his thoughts of his old friend and teammate. Hiroi fought so much like Sasuke had – before Sasuke had gone to Orochimaru. Before Sasuke had incorporated Orochimaru's Snake Form of taijutsu into the Uchiha family's original form. Hiroi's style matched more closely to Itachi's, what little of Itachi's form Naruto recognized.
Naruto swung wide with one arm and froze, the muscles in his arms flexing sharply as his body refused to obey and move. He glanced down with his eyes, unable to move anything else, and saw a dark shadow stretched out across the ground of the arena. He followed it, knowing what he'd find, and saw Shikaku kneeling not far away, his hands clasped before him as the man held the jutsu.
'Shit.' He had forgotten about that. 'Damn, I was almost ready.'
A hard blow crashed into the side of his head and his body flew backwards as the jutsu holding him broke. Naruto rolled awkwardly and pushed himself up to his knees, rubbing his head as pain flared across his skull. His vision blacked out for a moment and a feeling of vertigo swept over him, nearly sending him back to the ground again. He squeezed his eyes shut and then open again, trying to force himself to remain conscious. His head pounded painfully and he was seeing white spots in front of the narrowed field of vision that he still had.
"Damnit, Uchiha!" Shikaku yelled. "We were connected!"
Naruto glanced at the Nara, finding him sprawled backwards and glaring at Hiroi, who didn't look the least bit apologetic. Naruto pulled a kunai from the pouch on his leg and got to his feet – then promptly tumbled back to the ground as his vision swam and his balance tipped sideways. He sat stunned for a second, trying to figure out why he was back on the ground as he held his head in one hand again.
"Ow." Naruto stared a bit wide-eyed at the three Uchiha's he saw in front of him, all three staring down at him with a smirk and slowly spinning Sharingan. "Damnit, when did you make the clones?"
The three Hiroi's glanced at his partner then turned back to him with a wide smirk, their movements mirroring each other perfectly. Naruto shifted and tried to stand again, making it to his feet so long as he leaned heavily on his knees to keep his balance as vertigo swam through his head.
"You're done, Chunin." Hiroi said. Naruto ignored him, focusing his gaze on the small pebbles on the ground between his feet. The dizziness was slowly fading, making it easier for him to stand and feel less like he was about to throw up.
"That hit likely gave you a concussion." Shikaku said, then grumbled, "It nearly gave me whiplash."
"Hear that, Chunin?" the Uchiha said, "A concussion makes it virtually impossible to mold chakra. This match is all but over."
"Not done yet." Naruto said quietly.
"What was that?"
Naruto looked up enough to pin the Uchiha with a narrowed gaze, "I said, I'm not done yet."
Hiroi's Sharingan spun a bit faster as the man glared back at him. Naruto was no longer seeing triples, but his head was pounding in complaint, and his body was exhausted. He let his eyes flicker side to side of the Uchiha's head anyways, letting the other think that the concussion was still affecting him. Hiroi's smirk turned victorious.
"You're still seeing double, Chunin." He said. "You couldn't hit me if you tried."
Naruto smirked behind his scarf. "Don't need to hit you."
"Oh?"
Naruto shook his head slowly side to side and held up one hand, a single slim piece of parchment tucked between his fingers, barely visible. Hiroi narrowed his eyes on it, and Naruto let the man try to read the scripts and symbols inked onto the surface. Naruto moved his arm in a lazy manner, laying the tag on the ground at his feet with a growing grin. Hiroi followed the tag's progress carefully.
Nothing happened and the Uchiha looked back at him with a somewhat puzzled and triumphant expression. Naruto merely grinned wider, and channeled chakra into his fingers, seeing the glow of blue chakra from the corner of his eyes. The tag flared brightly as it was activated and script stretched outward from the tag in long lines, reaching across the floor of the arena with lightning speed. The black ink of the script lines flared blue, and highlighted the field they created. Tags flared brightly in turn as the script reached them and moved onwards, encircling the three combatants in a wide hexagonal field with criss-crossing lines connecting each of the six corners.
"What is this?" Hiroi demanded, his feet planted firmly in the center of the glowing field.
"Fuinjutsu (5)." Naruto said calmly. "A seal technique."
"A seal!"
Naruto nodded, not bothering to hide his grin. "A field created with a series of tags, that when activated closes the circle and traps those within it."
Hiroi looked at him sharply, his eyes flickering down to Naruto's feet on the edge of the script lines. Naruto nodded, he was within the field as well.
"You would set off an attack that would hit you as well?" Shikaku asked.
Naruto shot the man a mischievous grin. "Who said it was an attack?"
Shikaku's eyes narrowed slightly in a manner that reminded Naruto of Shikamaru again. It was the look that told him the Nara was thinking and had a suspicion already, even if it was unproven.
"It's not an attack?" Shikaku asked.
Naruto shook his head, watching the two as they studied the scripts of the seal spread out around and under them. He let them study it, not terribly worried that they would figure it out. He needed the time. Naruto didn't move, his fingers still resting lightly on the tag under him, chakra laced lightly through them, feeding the seal.
"Shit!" Shikaku spat out. Naruto looked over at him, finding the Nara to be staring at him with a somewhat shocked expression, though he had otherwise not moved. Naruto watched the other for a moment, seeing the subtle signs of emotions play across the man's face. Shikaku moved suddenly, heading straight towards the nearest edge of the hexagonal field.
Naruto cringed slightly and braced himself as the Nara crossed the outside edge of the seal. Chakra pulled from his fingers and the script lines flared white, blinding him momentarily, and then a silent wave of force blasted across the seal field. Naruto gritted his teeth, his eyes closed against the bright flare of chakra, as a gale-force wind pounded against him, whistling in his ears and tugging at his hair and clothes. Dirt and stones whipped around him, pelting him. The wind whistled and spun, carrying fine grains of sand and dirt along with it. He pumped chakra through his feet, holding him to his crouched spot as the seal pulled more chakra from him to feed the field, brightening the white light past his closed eyes.
The wind died slowly, whistling past him with a soft sigh and Naruto stopped feeding the seal. He opened his eyes, staring down at the floor before his feet as he tried to catch his breath. The dirt was grooved into a haphazard pattern of swirls and spirals. Sand dusted his feet and the tops of his knees, and he felt the gentle weight of the substance on his shoulders and head. He raised his head slowly, his body protesting the movement and sand slid from his hair to fall around him. The wind damage covered an area past that of the seal, which was slowly fading away. A large circle of swirled grooves stretched before him, bare of any grass or stones and leaving only a fine layer of sand. The effect looked like a meditation garden with the sand raked into patterns. Hiroi and Shikaku lay downed in the aftermath, their clothing a bit tattered with a soft layer of light sand and dirt covering them.
In the center of the circular area of damage stood two of Naruto's clones. They were breathing hard and their clothing was as tattered as the other's. Naruto was sure his own looked much the same. Sand dusted their hair and shoulders.
"Garden Sandstorm." Naruto mumbled, vaguely wishing that Gaara was there to take advantage of the sand his technique had created, or Hinata to mumble appreciations for the spiral designs raked into the field.
Shikaku shifted, trying to raise himself with his hands. He groaned and looked around him, settling his gaze first on the two wind-swept clones and then on Naruto.
"Light?"
Naruto nodded slowly, his body feeling extremely sluggish and weak.
"The seal," Shikaku started and then began again, "It only generated light."
"Yes." Naruto said, shifting his fingers over the spent tag beneath them. "Once activated it flares when someone crosses the outside barrier. I can continually feed chakra into it to prolong the effect, otherwise it is just a bright flare of light that lasts a second or two. Enough to shock and blind."
"It was a distraction." Shikaku said.
"Yes."
"I thought I heard them digging under us." Shikaku said, looking back at the clones.
"Probably." Naruto conceded. He wasn't always the most silent when underground, especially when in a hurry and trying to execute a jutsu before his opponent ran out of the area of effect. He appreciated Shikaku letting him know that his clones hadn't been quiet enough. It was a weakness that had tipped the Nara off, and not all ninjas would have offered the criticism so that Naruto could fix the mistake.
"Heh." Shikaku tried to move again, pushing his body off the ground before letting himself fall back down with a sigh. He let his body settle into the thin layer of sand covering the ground, looking for all the world as if he had meant to be there only to lay down lazily. Shikaku glanced at Hiroi, the Uchiha's unconscious body moving only with the light breaths of his breathing. Hiroi had been near the center of circle, close to the clones and therefore got hit the hardest with the wind technique.
"Hiroi isn't going to be pleased." Shikaku said. "A Chunin has never won this thing before."
Naruto chuckled with a grin and suddenly gasped, rocking backwards to plop onto the floor as his body spasmed a bit. He sat upright, his legs spread in front of him as he concentrated on his breathing as his vision began to black out. The last thing he saw was the twin plumes of smoke from his dissipating clones.
oooOoooOoooOooo
Author's Note:
Here's the Japanese used this chapter:
1)Hiraishin – the Fourth Hokage's technique that gave him the name Yellow Flash. It is a seal-based technique that allows him to teleport to the location of pre-placed sealing tags. He also wraps the tags around kunai handles to throw.
2)Taijutsu – hand to hand techniques. (or martial arts) Think Rock Lee.
3)Genjutsu – illusionary techniques. Naruto sucks at these… still.
4)Ninjutsu – ninja techniques. Any technique that uses chakra.
5)Fuinjutsu – seal techniques.
New Original Characters: Shimizu Nanami, Mori Aoi, Haro, Iwabuta, Ishikawa Mizu and Uchiha Hiroi. I know there are quite a few OC's in this thing, and they seem to be just taking up space sometimes, but there's a pretty big gap in this generation I felt I needed to flesh out a bit, and you'll be seeing these guys reappear throughout the story.