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Naruto yawned as he walked out of the gates. It turned out that Kurenai wasn't fond of tardiness and had decided to make sure he'd be on time by sending Shino to wake him up. He'd first sent the kid off with out problems. But then after a few minutes the kid tried again. He'd have to give the kid credit, having a swam of bugs buzzing around you made an excellent wakeup call. How the fuck the kid managed that Naruto had no idea, and he doubted he really wanted to know either.
Stepping out into the clearing they had designated that the teams would be meeting before they made their journey to the tournament he scanned the area. Only two teams had shown up so far. On his right was the first team, which was of course Kurenai's. And from what he had learnt in the past two days Kiba had apparently been selected to participate in the tournament. 'If that's the standard of what to expect in the tournament then I might not bother.'
The second team belonged to a chain smoker by the name of Asuma. A lazy kid who had made something called Chuunin recently was chosen to be the entrant of that team. Next to the boy was a bargearse eating a bag of chips while some blond girl who seemed to be complaining to Asuma.
Looking back at the door the third team approaches. Naruto stared, there could be no way those two were natural. While he had figured from what he had learnt about the team and their teacher, a Maito Gai, he knew they were supposed to be fairly weird. 'But still this is way too much! Have they on common sense what so ever?' He mentally screamed.
The other two in the team were seemingly normal. A boy with long hair and bandages on his arms and a girl in clothes which suited the mainland. They both upon seeing him distanced themselves from the two weirdoes' in an attempt to seem more normal. Naruto didn't blame them. From what he had found out about the team there were two participants for the tournament, an incredibly rare occurrence among the villages apparently. Both of the boys in the team had been selected.
Now they were just missing the final team of the group before they could head off. From what he had learned it was lead by a man who was known for being eternally late. Although from what he had learned about Kurenai was that lateness was one of the things which seriously pissed her off so he wasn't too sure what was going to happen here.
00000010
Minato groaned as he woke up. 'Sometimes I really hate those guys.' He mentally grumbled as he felt that the ANBU demolition corps in his head had apparently run out of explosion notes for the moment as his headache subsided.
Sensing movement Minato look down, suppressing a groan he noticed that he had apparently slept with a blond woman with breasts that probably give Tsunade a run for her money. Still at least it wasn't as bad as last time he had drunk with those guys. He managed to suppress a shudder at he remembered that weird short woman with the short brown hair.
He had spent most of the day running from her while she screamed about who he had defiled her purity and ruined her chance with her 'Yoruichi-sama'. Times like that are when he most missed his Hiraishin.
He had developed it especially for times like that after he had been to a party and needed to not be seen. A good side effect of the Hiraishin was that since he often teleported to the tag he had placed in his office, complete with a change of clothes and mouth wash. He had been hailed as the hardest working Hokage in the Leaf's history as he'd always be at his desk after a large party.
Noticing that she had grown a bit restless in his musings and had moved so that she was wrapped around him, her breasts tightly pressed against his chest he allowed him to smile. After learning that his Kushina had gone through the normal process of death and had lost her memories he had decided to move on. While he had loved Kushina after a couple of years he had been able to return to his old life style for parties.
One thing it should be noted was that Minato's nickname 'Konoha's yellow flash' did not originally come from his jutsu the Hiraishin. The origin was in fact due to what would happen whenever he went to a party. He was named 'Konoha's yellow flash' because at any party he had attended before he got together with Kushina all the host, and most of the other party goers would see of Minato was a flash of spiky yellow hair before he had gone with a female (Often the hosts sister/daughter, if they were around Minato's age) to one of the guest rooms of the house for some ardent adventures.
Of course it should be noted that he didn't always meet up with a female. In those cases he would always embarrass and humble any person who thought of themselves as a good drinker by drinking them and everyone else under the table at the party.
Due to his reputation the day he had married Kushina it had been declared a public holiday over the entire elemental country. While the official reason was due to a peace treaty between Konoha and Uzumaki, which was cemented with the marriage between Minato and Kushina. The true reason was that everyone was happy that they didn't have to worry about their sisters/daughters meeting Minato, or being embarrassed by him as he drunk them under the table. The holiday is still celebrated to this day.
Upon feeling another presence behind him Minato turned around to see who it was and froze. It was the crazy woman from last time. Luckily she was still asleep so he had time to plan a way to get the hell outta there before she woke up. Of course she chose that moment to stir as she mumbled out "Minato-sama" cutely.
Letting out a sigh of relief upon noticing she had woken up he allowed himself to relax as he started to think about just what she meant when she had mumbled out his name. After all last time she had mumbled out Yoruichi's name. While he was thinking Soi Fong chose that time to wake up. As she took note of Minato, who had frozen again he looked at him "I missed you Minato-sama" Soi Fong purred.
00000011
'Finally.' Naruto thought as Kakashi's team made their way into the clearing. He had been waiting for half an hour and had had enough. He watch as Kurenai marched right up to kakashi and grabbed him by the ear and led him off somewhere. After a couple of minutes she purposefully walked back with Kakashi following with a slight limp. He looked rather spooked as well.
Once Kurenai had joined up with the group again and Kakashi limped back to his team Naruto walked over to the group as they prepared to leave. As he walked back to the group he looked over Kakashi's team. The first was an odd girl with pink hair, while he had seen a couple of people like that he always found it rather odd. The next was who he figured was the participant from the team, Sasuke. Apparently he was some super skilled clan of ninjas and was expected to do the best of Konoha's group. Finally there was the last person. He had been told that it was a boy, he wasn't really sure tho. Haku was wearing a yukata with an under shirt which covered up his neck making it difficult to identify his gender. His long flowing hair really didn't help either.
"Kurenai-sensei, Zabuza-sama sends his best regards and also says hello" Haku intoned to Kurenai in a pleasant voice with a smile on his face.
"Ah, thanks. Umm… tell him I said hi next time you see him. I guess." Kurenai stammered back. Haku just smiled slightly wider as he turned to talk with his team mates.
Haku he had learned had come to Konoha a few years ago with what had been known as a missing nin by the name of Zabuza. Apparently they were ninjas who had defaulted for various reason. Normally they were hunted indiscriminately by all villages, but since the daemons started attacking they had been welcomed to any village they wanted. 'In times of need…' Naruto mused.
He fell in behind the group as they started making their way towards the Elemental tournament grounds. Apparently it was a 3 day walk.
00000100
On the second day of travel Naruto was getting annoyed. After the first couple of hours of travel they had picked up a couple of watchers and at first he had figured that one of the teachers would deal with the watchers, but it was apparent that they weren't going to. 'Looks like I have to do everything myself.' Naruto grumbled as he walked up to Kiba. "Come here Pooch I wanna talk to you about something." Naruto ordered.
Quickly sending a pleading look to his team mates Kiba prayed someone would save him. He'd already lost all of his pride when Naruto had told him to preform a romantic dance with Akamaru last night for entertainment. So he had no idea just how the daemon would torture him now. Resigning himself to his fate he followed Naruto to the trees.
Upon seeing Naruto and Kiba leave Kakashi shot a look to Kurenai who nodded in response. Tapping Sasuke on the shoulder and motioning for him to quietly follow him the stealthily jumped into the treetops following Naruto and Kiba.
00000101
"So, what do you want Naruto?" Kiba asked slightly trembling and praying it wouldn't be too bad.
"Shut up Pooch!" Naruto commanded as he turned directly away from the clearing. "Whoever been following us for the last day better come out now. You're really pissing me off!" Naruto yelled out.
Up in the trees Kakashi stared at the kid. He had thought he was going to plan something with Kiba not pick a fight with the ninjas tailing them. Quickly glancing at Sasuke and seeing he had the Sharingan activated Kakashi prepared to save the kids from getting killed as he spotted the two ninjas dashing out from deeper in the forest at Naruto.
"That's one" The ninja on the left laughed. As two ninja wearing gas masks with large mechanical claws on opposite arms with a chain connecting the two appeared behind Naruto with a chain trailing behind them closing in on Naruto.
Just as Kakashi was about to jump in to save Naruto he noticed that the kid had started smiling and that the ground the ninjas were on had started glowing and hesitated slightly. "Fools." Naruto whispered as the ground suddenly erupted in an explosion throwing the ninja straight backwards passing their chain and colliding with the trees. He watched in surprise as Naruto walked up to them taking a rope from his pack. Once he reached them he punched each of them hard in the gut and started to tie them up. Kakashi quickly sent Sasuke back to the group as he moved down to the kids to tell them go back as well so he could deal with the ninjas.
00000110
Kakashi stared at Naruto. Blood was dripping from his fist as he towered over the two ninjas who were tied up. He was glad he had sent Sasuke and Kiba away. He was having problems watching this. Neither of the boys would have handled this.
Naruto stared down at the ninja on the left "Now… my question." He started as he moved to the ninja. "Who sent you?" Naruto cried as he delivered a vicious punch to the ninja blood splattering from the force of the punch.
"Eh?" Naruto exclaimed as he cocked his arm in preparation for another punch. The ninja who he had been punching had fallen over his mask had been removed showing that his face was completely swollen and was streaked with a mixture of tears and blood. "He's fainted! Oh, well… I'll just have to pound on you then!" Naruto exclaimed as he had his right hand on his chin in a 'thinkers pose' as he turned to the other ninja.
The second of the daemon brothers looked at Naruto who simply grinned evilly in response. Quickly bowing his head repeatedly he cried out "Please… please, don't hit us any more. We really don't know anything!" He screamed "You have to believe me!" He pleaded.
"…" Naruto looked off to the distance positioning his head so that the shadows masked his face. "All right… maybe I will!" He proclaimed.
The remaining daemon stared at Naruto tears streaming down his face; a smile of relief broke his face in two. "Th-thank you so much!" He cried.
Suddenly Naruto started laughing towards the heavens as he raised both hands towards the daemon brother giving him the finger from both of them. "Just kidding!" He laughed as he started savagely beating on the daemon brother.
00000111
Kakashi slowly walked up to Naruto. 'This has gone on way too long.' He thought as he approached the kid. "As far as I can see, these two ninjas really don't know who commissioned them to follow us."
Naruto slightly turned his head to see Kakashi. Then turned back as he left out a small breath. "I know Kakashi."
"Then… then why did you continue hitting…?" He stammered out. He had seen some pretty bad violence but to see someone as young as this kid was mildly disturbing. He was only as old as his own precious students. He really didn't want to imagine Sakura doing something like this.
Naruto turned his body to look at Kakashi, a shit-eating grin threatened to split his face in two. "Because it's fun!" He laughed.
'OK that does it. Now I know I'm going to have nightmares about this. As if I hadn't had enough mental trauma already' Kakashi mentally lamented.
Naruto turned back to the knocked out daemon brother as he started shaking his fist at them. "And you bunglers…" He started "come after me again and I'll kill you for real!" He screamed.
00001000
Later that day all of the students were sitting around a camp fire waiting for their meal. Naruto reflected that Kurenai had been fairly pissed at the delay to their trip and had tried to grill Kakashi for information but he had told her he'd explain later. While she had seemed fairly miffed she accepted it.
Dinner had been running smoothly until the weird, Rock Lee had made a comment about how his rival was lucky to have the only team with two girls. At that point the team looked slightly uncomfortable and his weird teacher had come and taken Lee for a chat, which led to the current situation.
"What! Sakura's a guy!" Lee cried out.
Upon hearing that Sakura went ramrod straight and started to sweat. "Wait… guy's. He's wrong I'm not a guy. Besides have you ever heard of a guy with pink hair?" She stammered out. Seeing them relax slightly she sighed in relief.
Naruto turned towards her "You know I remember Majeh telling me about a guy he met that had pink hair. Apparently the guy also cross dressed as a girl as well. Used steamed buns for breasts as well. The guy's real name was Mitarai Tokichiro, but he called 'herself' Akari." Naruto intoned as he grinned as Sakura.
Upon seeing the suspicious looks sent her way Sakura started stammering again "Wha… wait. I'm really a girl. You've known me for years. I'm really a girl. Honest!"
Shino adjusted his glasses as gave Sakura a once over and then did the same to Haku and back to Sakura. "Visual evidence does not support the fact that you are the female member of your team Haruno." He stated flatly.
Sakura could only stare in shock.
00001001
"Wow!" Kiba breathed out as he stared at the gates to the Elemental battle grounds. While they were far from the size of the gates of Konoha the gates to the Elemental battle grounds had a presence that Konoha's gates lacked. Kiba stared at the entrance in awe taking in the pristine white stone walls surrounding the doors with the immense pillars supporting the roof that extended over the entrance way. "So this is the Elemental battle grounds… pillar of the martial arts of the Elemental country."
"It's magnificent" Sakura exclaimed in awe. Speaking for the first time since the incident with Lee. She had been constantly pestered by Kiba to "prove" that she was indeed female. Needless to say Kiba had not gone through unscathed as Sakura, Ino and Tenten had all expresses their displeasure at his perverted antics.
"You're such a country bumpkin…!" Naruto yawned as he looked around the place. Something felt slightly off about the place, but since his senses were dulled he couldn't make it out properly. 'Still it looks like this tournament might be more interesting that I first thought.' He noted.
"Maa, maa. Kiba's reaction isn't that surprising. The Elemental battle ground is a symbol of the strength of the Elemental countries and is the only place in all of the countries that hasn't suffered any significant damage from a daemon attack. While there have been attempts they've all been swiftly repelled." Kakashi explained as he motioned for the group to begin walking through the doors.
Slowly the group followed Kakashi through the group with Kakashi's team in the lead. Sasuke looked over the ground on which they would soon be fighting. Currently it was bare and none of the rings had been prepared. He snorted as continued on finding nothing of value to observe.
Team Asuma followed next with Shikamaru taking stock of the layout of the buildings as he muttered "Troublesome." Under his breath.
Team Gai followed next with Neji falling behind Lee. He hadn't forgiven Lee for making a comment the other day about how he was often mistaken for a girl. Apparently Lee had been trying to cheer Sakura up. What had followed was Neji trying to strangle Lee for about half an hour while Lee fled for his life. Gai positioned himself near Neji just in case he did decide that he wanted to kill Lee again.
Team Kurenai was the last group to enter with Naruto walking near Kiba. "There's a horde of humans." Naruto sighed as he looked around while scratching his ear. He wasn't exactly fond of large crowds.
"Of course you fool. It's because this is a major even for the elemental country. It's where every village and daemon hunting group come to prove their worth." Ino exasperated as she sternly looked at Naruto not believing just how stupid some people could be. 'If he's like that I can't see how he can even think of entering this tournament. I bet he gets his arse handed to him in the first round.'
"Don't mind her. She's always like that" Tenten commented as she shot a glare at Ino. 'Can't she try to leave a good impression for once?' She wondered. "Also just entering through the gates is a source of pride of and group. After all for every entrant that they have in the tournament signifies the amount of potential the group has." She explained.
"That's true! It looks as if many powerful groups have brought along strong entrants this year." Haku commented as they reached the registry area.
Naruto scanned the area and folded his arms over his chest and tilted his head so that his hair slightly covered his face shadowing it so that he appeared almost daemonic. "Powerful groups? All I see is a gathering of empty cans. Compared to them, I'm extremely – Eh…?" At that point Naruto noticed that the group had continued on without him ignoring what he had just said.
"They're taking registration over here." Kurenai explained as she pointed over at a section of the area.
"Well then let's go." Asuma dryly commented as he lit a cigarette.
"Hey don't ignore me! You'll see the truth soon!" Naruto yelled at the group as he shock his fist at them.
00001010
"Okay, next contestant." Called an old man from behind a desk with a scroll and brush in front of him. Kiba stepped up to the desk. Quickly he asked "Name?"
"Inuzuka Kiba of Konoha." He replied and stepped back once he saw his name being written in the scroll.
"And my name is Rock Lee Konoha's Proud Green Beast!" He finished in his "nice guy" pose in front of the man.
"Excellent my student. With this introduction you're sure to go great in the tournament" Gai cheered as he did a "nice guy" pose to Lee.
"Gai-sensei!" Lee started, tears forming in his eyes as he stared at Gai.
"Lee!" Gai continued tears also forming in his eyes.
"Gai-sensei!" Lee cried as he rushed at Gai.
"Lee!" Gai cried as he went down on one knee embracing Lee in a hug, a sunset background suddenly appeared behind them.
Naruto just stared at the two. "Every time I think I've seen it all something comes and proves me wrong. I really wish that would stop happening." He growled out disgustedly.
Ino turned to Tenten "My respect for you just shot up a few notches."
The old man at the registry desk was also starring stupidly at the two his brush shaking slightly in his hands and he wrote down Lee's name.
Ino walked up to Naruto "Naruto aren't you going to compete?" She questioned him shyly.
"Let me see…" He wondered as he looked around at the people gathered there.
"Come on! Hmm? You're very strong, Naruto! I would love to see your powerful skills!" She purred as she got closer to Naruto. Sakura was giving her a disgusted look from behind Naruto.
Grinning madly Naruto laughed. Bwa ha ha! You're pretty smart, Ino! Maybe I will give it a go!"
Ino just smiled slightly 'Guy's are so easy to manipulate.' She thought in victory.
The old man wiped some sweat from his brow. "Finally they're gone." He sighed in relief.
"I want to register." Naruto stated calmly as he walked up to the registry.
"Name?" The man asked hesitantly hoping he wouldn't get another weirdo like last time.
"Naruto."
"Then if you please… go stand over there for a simple test. Your group will start in half an hour" The man said as he pointed over at a gathering of people.
"Test?" cried out the gathered genin.
00001011
As the group approached the area shown by the old man they saw another person standing on a small platform reading from a scroll to a large group of entrants. "All right if you look to your right…" The man started as he pointed to large granite slabs. "You will have three seconds to penetrate the slabs with your bare hands, in order to qualify for the competition!"
Naruto and the others approached the Granite slabs. There were a total of three. Each slab was about the height and width of an adult and six inches thick. In front each of them was an entrant. The Entrant would strike the slab and a judge would check the mark they left on the slab and call out weather they passed or failed. After the entrant had left the slab would be replaced.
"Hmm, looks like this test might be a bit difficult. Normally I'd be fairly easy to break through the slab with a strong ninjutsu technique. But it seems like most techniques will take too long to prepare, and you need to hit the slab." Kakashi commented as he watched a group of participants strike the slab. Unfortunately while they all left an indent in the granite none of the indents impressed the judges enough to pass them.
"If only I'd known, I would have practice the technique sis taught me." Kiba moaned as he watched the group walk of rubbing their hands in pain.
"Humph, looks like all the useless dregs are being removed from this test." Neji remarked as he watched the last batch of loser's walk of. 'Looks like I won't have to put down any rejects in this tournament.' He thought happily.
"That's not very nice Neji. I'm sure all of those people were burning with the fiery passion of youth!" Lee replied as he brought his fist to bear as fire danced in his eyes. 'Thank you Gai-sensei for teaching me the super granite smashing mega punch!' He thought proudly as he watched the slabs get replaced.
Naruto watched in amusement as three new entrants stepped up to the new slabs. The first was a blond girl about fifteen years old stepped up to the first slab. Strapped to her back was a large black object that looked like a box. The girl made a couple of quick hand seals before delivering a normal straight punch at the slab. Just before the punch connected a miniature cyclone formed around her punch and struck the granite slab slightly ahead of her fist, quickly drilling through the slab before her fist connected. The judge looked over the damage to the slab "Pass!" He called out.
"What! Why'd she pass? She didn't even hit the slab!" Sakura yelled. There was no way that was fair.
"Settle down Sakura. It's perfectly legal to use a ninjutsu as long as it's part of the actual strike." Kakashi commented in a bored tone. 'Looks like I need to go over looking underneath the underneath again.' He wearily sighed.
The person next to the girl was a slightly younger around fourteen in a black body suit that had something about the same size as him wrapped in bandages over his shoulder. The first thing he did was make a flicking motion at the slab. Then he positioned himself to strike the slab and delivered a hard punch. While his right fist stuck out at the slab he quickly moved his left hand back. Once his fist struck it left an impression about three inches deep. "Pass!" yelled the judge.
"Hmm, looks like that boy might be a bit of trouble. He was willing to break his fist just to enter the tournament. Still it seems as if he has a good pain threshold." Asuma commented as he watched the boy walk off and meet up with the girl.
The third entrant was a boy about twelve years old. He had spiky red hair and carried a large gourd made of sand on his back. He simply walked up to his granite slab and placed his hand on it. Almost instantly a section of the slab blew back from the slab. Not waiting for the judges call the boy walked to the two other entrants and the three walked off together. "…Pass!" The judge called out finally breaking out of his stupor as he noticed that the boy had already left.
"Umm… Kakashi? Do you know just what the last kid did to the slab?" Sakura asked nervously.
"Not really, I'd say you should watch out of all three of those kids Sasuke." He commented as his single eye followed the children as they walked off.
"Pass!" The judge cried. The group turned back to see a tall boy wearing a yukata with silver hair walking away from a slab. The slab had a circular hole in it.
"Hmm… looks like we missed seeing something important." Kakashi commented offhand. "Any way looks like it's our turn. Lee, Neji and Sasuke you can go first."
Neji was the first to walk up to the slab. He stood in front of the slab for a couple of seconds before lashing out with a fast palm strike. "Pass!" called the judge upon seeing the three inch deep palm print Neji left.
Lee had gotten into a stance with his first cocked back. With a yell he shot forwards striking the slab and having his fist go through the slab up to his elbow. "Pa… pass…" Stuttered the judge wide eyed staring at lee.
"Ugh… Gai-sensei! I'm stuck!" Lee called out realising he couldn't move his arm as he tried furiously to move his arm.
As Gai went to help remove Lee from the stone slab, a chirping sound resonated throughout the area. Sasuke was standing in front of his slab his hand cackling with blue lighting as he rammed in into the slab, obliterating the granite slab. "Pa… pa… pass!" cried the judge as he stared at Sasuke.
"Humph!" Sasuke snorted as he walked back to the group. So far this had been a waste of his time.
Kakashi sighed as he watched Sasuke walk back to the group shaking his head as he looked at the remains of the stone slab. 'I really need to teach that boy some restraint.' "Well that went well" Kakashi called out cheerfully "Next up Kiba and Shikamaru, Naruto's I'm afraid you're in the next group."
Shikamaru stepped up to the slab deep in thought. He quickly struck the slab but left no real mark. "Fail!" the judge called as he walked back to the group.
"Hmm… looks like I'll need to work on you're strength later Shikamaru." Asuma commented.
"Troublesome." Shikamaru mutter in reply.
Kiba struck the slab with all of his might. When he removed his fist for inspection it showed he left a shallow mark in the slab. "Fa…" The judge started as a chunk of granite crumbled away from the slab "… pass…" the judge finished lamely.
"Yuk-yuk! What luck!" Naruto laughed as he clutched his sides in laughter.
"Shut up! I meant to do that!" Kiba yelled back. "Besides I'd like to see you do better!" He challenged.
Naruto smiled as walked up to the slab. "All right watch carefully." He commented as he placed a hand on the slab. "This is child's play… and you call it a test?" Naruto closed his fist crushing the granite like it was paper.
"What…?" Called the judge in surprise as he watch the boy crush a large section of the slab.
"Hey judge-guy is this enough?" Questioned Naruto as he let the granite he ripped from the slab fall to the ground, no piece was bigger than a pebble.
"…Yes…yes, it's more than enough!" The judge exclaimed in shock. "You passed!"
"Bwha ha ha ha! Of course!" Naruto laughed loudly as he placed his hands on his hips and laughed at the sky.
"That boy… he's really powerful! At his age how is it possible?" Kurenai breathed. That sort of strength that Tsunade would have yet this boy displayed it casually.
"His fingers? He crumbled the granite with his fingers…" Lee was shocked; he doubted that even using the gates he'd have that amount of strength. Just what sort of training did this Naruto do? He'd have to find out and do it him self. If he couldn't he'd run five thousand laps around the building.
00001100
He adjusted his cowl as he walked down the crowded streets of the staging grounds of the elemental tournament. He suppressed a laughed as he looked across the hopeful faces of the people walking across the street knowing themselves to be safe in the streets of the staging grounds.
He would take great pleasure in showing these people just how false this knowledge truly was. How he longed to just simply reach out his hand and snap the neck of the nearest fool. It would be oh so easy and feel oh so good.
But he refrained from ding so. He wasn't here to kill, he was here to discover. He wanted to know just what he would be slaughtering in a short time. He wanted to know what he should kill first to make his masters happy, which would in turn seal any boons he would receive for his service.
So far all he had seen was to normal ignorant masses of the human scum. He often wondered why they weren't like him. Why didn't they turn to the daemons? It would mean they would cease being cattle. It didn't matter anyway. Now due to their ignorance he had more victims.
It would be so easy to just reach and grab one of the humans by the skull and crush it like a piece of over ripe fruit. He could just imagine the screams such and action would create as the humans would create a stampede to flee from him.
He knew that many more would die from the press of so many bodies and others which tripped would be trampled underfoot to a paste. It would be glorious.
He restrained his hand from doing such an act. In his revive he had almost acted upon his thoughts. That wouldn't be good. His masters wanted the invasion to be a surprise and he wouldn't let on something was going on by indulging in some minor entertainment.
As he shock himself out of his revive he noticed a different group. They didn't emit a feeling of hope and excitement, instead they felt strong and deadly. Obviously these were competitors.
Moving to get a better look at the group the man's face broke out into a grin. One of them was here. This was perfect. All he had to do was being this one to his masters and he was sure to get a wonderful boon from them.
Adjusting his cowl again he turn around and headed for the exit. He would be glad to be removed from the stench of the humans.
00001101
Minato sighed as he walked from the room he had 'rested' in. Soon he would have to start cleaning up so he could prepare for the next Luau out. 'Still it had been a nice break.' he mused as he closed the door behind him.
Feeling a hand on his shoulder he stiffened up in dread. He was sure he knew who it was. Sure enough behind him was Ikkaku grinning stupidly. He knew he was going to regret this but, "What is it?" he asked cautiously.
"Bob wants you." He replied simply, knowing full well that whenever Bob wanted something it was never simple. "Oh and Soi Fong was looking for you. I'd be careful if I was you. She might try to castrate you again."
Just at that moment the door behind Minato and out walked Soi Fong regally. She turned to Minato and bowed formally. "It was a pleasure meeting you again." She intoned formally.
Smiling warmly Minato returned the bow. "The pleasure was all mine." He replied kindly.
"And mine." Yawned Matsumoto as she lazily walked out of the room behind Soi Fong. She gave Minato a quick wave as she the bounce off calling for her 'taicho-chan'. Soi Fong quickly follow suit at a more relaxed pace making sure to maintain her dignity.
Ikkaku could only stare stupidly at Minato gaping like a fish out of water. Slowly he brought himself out of his stupor while Minato waited patiently.
"Is there anything else you want to know?" He asked bemusedly when it seemed as if Ikkaku had most of his cognitive functions back.
"How?" Whispered Ikkaku only just finding his voice.
"You'd be surprised as how far a smile can get you." He laughed as he walked off himself leaving Ikkaku to contemplate the meaning of his words.
00001110
Sarutobi sighed as he walked through the gates of Konoha, his carriage that would take him to the Elemental tournament was waiting for him a short distance away.
He paused as he looked back at Konoha as he let a smile grace his face as he watched a the people which had come to send him off. It was these people who made him sure that sooner or later they would break the daemon threat and would be able to live a peaceful life.
As he started to enter the carriage he felt his mind wander to the child called Naruto. Was it really Naruto for just some doppelgänger come to play havoc with his senses. He dismissed the second option almost as soon as he thought of it.
He came with Kurenai's team after all. She would have sniffed out any sort of daemon and there wouldn't be any human who would use such a wasteful method to get to him with the current situation.
Still just what has happened to the boy? He seemed different from what he would expect a twelve year old boy would be. He had been far too controlled not to have undergone extensive training. Yet he was relaxed as well. It seemed impossible that any child as old as Naruto was could have training which would leave him with that sort of result.
Hopefully it was simply his old mind playing tricks on him, he doubted it though. One thing he had learned in his past which had been heavily reinforced the last ten years was that what you think is and isn't possible doesn't always ring true.
Signalling to the driver to start moving he looked out the window. Staring carefully at the trees he saw Yamato leaping through the trees. He would have to have a word with him later about being more discreet. He shouldn't be seen at all on this assignment.
Turning to look out the other side he checked to see if he could find traces of Itachi. Unfortunately he couldn't find anything. He had taken it as a sort of game recently to try and find faults in Itachi lately. Fortunately the boy had become more relaxed in recent years.
He suspected that with the major losses his clan suffered, including the loss of it's head, that a large portion of the pressure that Itachi had been under has disappeared, leaving him to grow more as a person.
Now if his little brother would relax and forget about his revenge then he could be sure the Uchiha's would return stronger than ever.
00001111
Kakashi walked through the doorway of a bar he and the other Jounin had designated as their meeting place. It reeked of alcohol, sweat and other such substances. It had been chosen purely for the fact that no one would want to enter unless they had to.
The bar was crowded, hardly surprising considering the amount of attraction the Elemental tournament attracted. Navigating through a throng of people Kakashi made it to the table Asuma was currently seated at. Surrounded on all sides it was impossible to hear anything nor to see outside the bar.
Pulling up a chair Kakashi sat down and took a sip of the Sake Asuma had prepared for the meeting. "Not bad considering where we are." He started, his voice barely more than a whisper completely drowned out b the noise in the bar.
"It's a lot better than list time we came here. It seems as if business has been good here." Asuma replied in the same whisper of a voice.
As the two of them waited eventually both Gai and Kurenai also joined them. As they chatted amicably in the same whisper.
"Well now that were all here we can start business." Kurenai started as she scanned the area in front of her. When she found nothing she continued. "What exactly happened the other day with the two chuunin that were following us?"
Sigh softly Kakashi stared at Kurenai. "You might not believe this, but the boy too them both out in seconds. They managed to attack him from behind and just before I could interfere he somehow created a jutsu which made the ground behind him, which was were the chuunin were at that time, explode." He sighed as he rubbed his temples. "After that he tied the two up and started to beat on them asking why they were following us."
"And?" Questioned Gai, full seriousness.
"Someone had payed them to follow us, but they didn't know who. Of course Naruto didn't stop the beating, if I didn't step in he might have beat them to death. I asked him just why he was continuing with it and he said 'Because it's fun'." Kakashi finished worriedly.
"That's a bit worrying." Spoke Asuma paling slightly. "Do you think he blood crazy?" He left the question hanging, they all knew what needed to be done if the answer was a yes.
"I'm not sure, but we need to keep our eyes on him. We have enough problems without adding a genius with excessive blood lust." Kakashi intoned as he took a sip from his drink.
"Gai, just how strong do you think the boy is, physically, at any rate." Kurenai asked as she turned to check the surroundings again.
"The strength he displayed today, it's not something a child his age should be able to achieve. I'm not sure how he managed it, but as for strength I couldn't do the same thing that easily until I had the second gate open. So I would guess he is as strong as myself with the third or forth gate open." Gai finished seriously, a hard look in his eye as he stared at Kurenai.
"That's, that's... That's insane." Breathed Kurenai. "This child is seeming more and more unbelievable. Just how did he get all of this strength?" Just what had Kiba found? She wondered.
"The question is Kurenai." Started Asuma as he lit a cigarette and too a long drag from it. "Is why is he here and what is he going to do with this strength."
"I think that's enough for now." Finished Kakashi, intoning the end of the discussion. "We should wait for the Hokage before we make any decisions. He seems to have an interest in the boy after all." 'And I have an idea what it might be as well.'
The group continued talking for a while until slowly each of them left. Asuma was the last to leave as he stared up at the night sky he wondered just what the boy meant. Well he would find out soon. He just hoped that when they did it wasn't too late.
00010000
"So what exactly do you want of me Bob?" Minato called as he walked into the office of the Shinigami. The room itself was massive and made Minato even today feel insignificant. It's massively high ceiling and towering pillars dwarfed him. Rich tapestries decorated the pillars of long gone heroes.
A large red carpet led Minato from the door to the desk at which Bob sat. Somehow rather than seeming small and insignificant he seemed even larger and more powerful at his desk. As if he had grown in size.
"Good to see you then, Minato." He spoke in his booming voice, seemingly from everywhere at once as if reverberated around the chamber. "I have a special task for you to preform."
Minato stood waiting. It was a game Bob would play every now and then. If Minato replied in any way Bob would use it as an excuse to pile more work onto him.
After a few minutes of waiting Bob seemed to grow bored and so he continued. "Recently the missing 'person' has returned to this world."
Upon hearing those words Minato's eye's brightened, he knew it had been his son which had disappeared those years ago. Maybe his assignment would be to help him learn about what had happened in the world!
"Due to his recent arrival certain things need to be prepared and so I need you to take a certain person down to meet up with the traveller." Bob continued bemusedly as Minato drooped at not being able to meet his son. "So you think you'll be fine?" he asked. Though Minato knew it wasn't a request.
"Sure." He sighed dejectedly.
Upon hearing Minato's consent Bob motioned for someone to come in. As the person entered Minato could only cry. "You!" Upon seeing Minato's reaction the new comer could only smile a very toothy grin
00010001
She stood on her perch watching as people manoeuvred through the streets trying to avoid being crushed by the ever present horde of humans. Others protected small avenues of space as they tried to hawk their wares.
The stench of the place made her noxious. As sweat and bodily fluids mixed together to create a truly putrid aura for her senses. And yet through all of it the people didn't seem to mind. She could see smile of happiness and hope grace the faces of almost everyone here.
She was always impressed by the just how well humans could cope. Just to get her they probably had to risk their lives in venturing outside their homes where they were safe from wandering daemons. And yet she hadn't heard one complaint yet.
Still it had been enough time spent admiring the humans. She was here for a reason. All she had to do was find her target and she could continue on with it. She hoped that he had entered the tournament else she might be wasting her time here.
She knew if he was there she would fight him. He would most likely be the one who would give her a run for her money. After all she doubted that there would be many humans that could give her a good match.
Moving from her spot she headed towards the tournament staging grounds. Maybe the target was getting a good look at where it would be fighting. As she leapt off towards her next hunting grounds she hoped would meet a challenge in the tournament.
After all it would be a waste of her time if she found her target couldn't even give her a good fight. And she doubted she would have been given the task if the target wasn't up to the challenge.
00010010
Kiba inhaled deep of the morning air as he stepped outside the rooms that had been assigned to the Konoha nin's. Today was a looking to be a good day. Naruto had been given a different area to sleep as he wasn't a Konoha nin, which meant that he wasn't around Kiba.
Until today Kiba never realised just how beautiful the sky really was. Nor had he noticed how the birds sounded. Nothing could ruin his mood. Nothing.
"Kiba you stupid mutt, breakfast is ready!" Ino shouted from inside.
Kiba was still smiling stupidly as he walked back inside to eat his breakfast knowing he wouldn't have to put on a display to entertain anyone, nor would he have to wait on someone. He could just eat in peace. 'Today truly is great.'
00010011
As he walked through the cave he felt himself relax. He could still smell the lingering stench of humanity from his recent trip, but it was now muted by the miasma wafting from deeper in the cave. He inhaled deep as he breathed deep of the soothing smells the caved offered.
The smell was wondrous, and indescribable. It had been created from incenses wrought of human flesh and bone as well as other daemonic substance he had yet to learn about. It lingered throughout out the cave giving it a welcoming feeling. As he moved deeper into the cave the coppery tang of blood lace with the smell of fear help enhance the wondrous smell.
He was truly glad to be back home.
The caves them selves were massive, seemingly to spread in every direction. Light was almost instantly swallowed up. Water dripped in the background at odd intervals.
As he walked deeper into the cave he came upon a large set of oak doors that were easily the size of a small house. At the centre of the two were a pair of handles wrought of bone and covered in flesh. A razor blade of bone protruding from each handle seemed to emit an eerie glow.
Without hesitating the man walked up to the door and gripped both handles in a tight grip allowing the bone blades to bite deep into his palms as he pulled open the door. It gave way instantly, moving as if it weighed nothing.
Behind the door was a sine deep blue mist. The man left a small smile grace his face as he steeped into the mist. Seemingly being swallowed rather than walking into it.
The man now found himself walking down a corridor. The silence was stifling. Even his own breathing was muted. As he walked down the corridor he came across a small plain wooden door with out any features of any kind. He knocked on it thrice as it slowly swung open. It was time to meet his masters.
00010100
Kiba stared at Kurenai. He wasn't quite sure he had just heard her right. "Did you just say you'd train me to be able to match Naruto in time for the tournament?" His voice was shaking as he spoke.
Kurenai nodded in consent. Kiba immediately jumped for joy on hence seeing this motion. Finally he could be free to do as he wished.
Kurenai didn't bother to explain that the training was going to be harsh. Kiba already knew. "The fist part will be to last five minutes with out me making any physical contact with you Kiba. Each and every five minutes starts immediately after I touch you. This will only stop when I say it stops." Kurenai rolled up her sleeves as she spoke as he looked hard at Kiba.
"And it starts now!" With that she rushed at him delivering a hard palm strike to his abdomen knocking the wind from him. Immediately she follow that up with a swift kick to his chest and sent him flying back into a tree.
Coughing Kiba pushed himself up and he jumped from the spot just in time to see Kurenai kick through the tree. It seemed as if the next few days were going to suck.
00010101
Temari smiled to herself as she walked down the streets of the market area. She had been able to vent her pent up frustration on Kankurou because of his stupidity. As a result she had a slight spring in her step as she checked the local markets for anything she liked.
As she made her way to a near by restaurant she noticed a small commotion brewing. It seemed as if one of the groups were already trying to eliminate participants before the tournament started.
Three large men, obviously only just eligible for the tournament, or they had come as part of another group and still wanted to help their group place well. "Watch where where you're going you little shit!" She heard the lead one yell as he leaned over the youth darkly.
"What! You bumped into me you dumb oaf!" The boy cried back as he move his face so that it was right in the leaders face. Temari resisted the urge to face palm. It was obvious the boy was out matched, each of the group were almost twice his height and width.
She wondered if he had a death wish. Either that of he had such a massive ego and he thought he could actually beat these men. 'Should I just sit here a watch or should I help him?' Making her decision she made here move.
"I wouldn't try anything too hasty if I were you." She called out casually as she unslung her fan and placed it beside her, as she stared hard at the three men.
"Oh really and why should I be concerned with what a little bitch like you thinks?" The leader of the group sneered at her.
Stealing her self, she managed to refrain from maiming the man on the spot right then and there, it was close though. Instead she waited for one of them to notice her forehead protector.
It didn't take too long. One of the other two suddenly went stiff as all colour drained from his face. Quickly he grabbed the leader of the group as he whispered in his ear and pointed to Temari. Suddenly realising his position the leader of the group paled as he started sweating himself.
"I... I think I'll let this pass, just this once." He stammered out as he and the other two quickly turned and left.
She turned to the boy so he could thank her, after all it was the only proper thing to do after she rescued him.
Besides he most likely an entrant in the competition. It was never a bad idea to try and establish friendly ties with any of the new groups that sprung up which could produce someone strong enough to qualify.
Instead of receiving praise like she expected Temari met with air. As she quickly looked to find the boy she save she saw him already walking off down the street.
Quickly rushing after him Temari grabbed him on the shoulder. "You should thank people who save you." She admonished him.
"Why?" replied the boy lazily, already seeming like he was ready to leave.
"Because it's the right thing to do when someone saves you from a beating!" She replied angrily. The boys flippant attitude getting to her slightly. Taking a deep breath she calmed her self down.
"Oh... fine then. Thanks for the help against those losers, even though I could'a taken on a hundred of them." He yawned tiredly as Temari gaped at the size of his bloated ego.
It figures that he would have an ego. He was probably from some backwater village and had been fortunate to have been picked for training and shown himself to be a prodigy. Still it was possible to knock out his ego before the tournament. He might just properly thank her for that. Besides it would be fun to see his face when his ego is crushed.
Just at that time the boy's stomach made itself know as it released a growl. Not even slightly embarrassed at the noise of his stomach he to turned to her. "Do you know any good restaurants around here? I was going to eat in the one back there, but I don't feel like using that place today.'
Suppressing a smirk she looked down at the boy. "Well I guess if you want you can come back with me. I was just buying some food for my brothers to cook for dinner. I could probably cook for one more if you want." She replied as started to walk away motioning for him to follow.
00010110
Kankurou lifted his head as he saw his sister enter his room. Removing his attention from his bandaged hand he looked up as he cocked his eyebrow at her in askance.
"I just wanted to say I'm going to start dinner, it should be ready in about twenty "minutes." He calmly informed him as her eye moved over to his bandaged hand. "How is it?" She finished worriedly. She had berated him for doing some "insanely stupid" as she put it, but he wouldn't let himself be the only one in the group not pass the preliminaries if he could help it.
"Medic nin said it should be fine in a week as long as I see him every day for more treatments. Stupid test, just how is breaking a rock supposed to tell if were good fighters?" He finished angrily as he gently rubbed his mending wrist.
"Who knows, anyway I ran into another competitor today and thought I could try and establish good relations with him. So I brought him here for dinner." She had the decency to look slightly abashed at Kankurou's ludicrous stare at those words. "He's got a massive ego problem. I thought I could introduce him to Gaara and sort it out." She finished quickly.
"Ahh. You're gonna have to wait a bit then. He taking a nap right now, he should be up for dinner though knowing him." He replied casually as he waved Temari off.
"Fine then." She sighed "Remember dinner in twenty else I'll give the kid your food." She replied as she silently shut the door behind her as she walked to the kitchen.
"Kid? That figures, she knows I hate brats." He grumbled to himself as he started to re bandage his hand.
00010111
Sarutobi breathed deeply as he arrived at the gates of the elemental countries tournament. He always enjoyed coming here. It allowed him to know for a fact that there was still hope in the world. That the daemons were still unable to break the spirit of the humans and that sooner or later they would push the daemons back.
Adjusting his hood the Hokage walked through the busy streets of the tournament grounds. His cloak and hood protecting his identity as he skilfully weaved through the mass of people in the streets.
He always made sure whenever he came to one of the tournaments to travel through the streets. It allowed him to feel the hope and laughter in the air. The smell of food, perfume and other such smells that were enjoyable to the human senses filled him with glee.
Still he couldn't linger here for long, he had came for a reason after all. Swiftly making his way towards the main entrance Sarutobi took one last glance of the streets before departing from them for the main building looming over the streets.
00010000
Hence entering the main building for the tournament Sarutobi found himself led to the main waiting room by a shortish man with broad shoulders, obviously the man a good fighter from his looks. The man told him that none of the dynamo's were currently available to see him. As they were all currently busy organizing the tournament.
He was led to the waiting room as the man turned to him. "I'm sorry for the delay Hokage." He profusely apologized as he went to the door. "I must tell you that we have a new arrival to the tournament who wishes to see you." He finished.
Cocking his head in askance he gave the man the motion to continue as he wonder just who this person was. He had to be important or else he wouldn't have been even mentioned. Still he wouldn't have to wait long to find out who it was.
Noticing the signal to continue the man did so as he prepared to open the large door to the waiting room. "The one who wishes to see you is the new Otokage. He said he was very interested in meeting you." He finished as he opened the door.
Sarutobi could only stare in shock at the person on the other side of the door wearing Kage robes and smiling that smile at him. "Why hello, Sarutobi-sensei. It's such a pleasure to see you again." He started in a smooth tone only he could do.
00010001