Leaf Style Maelstrom Chapter 12, a naruto fanfic

Chapter 12: Konoha no Tatsumaki (Leaf Hurricane)

Hyuuga Neji, genius and prodigy of the Hyuuga clan, strongest gennin of his generation and victim to the whims of Fate, sneered at his fellow Chuunin competitors. What were they doing here anyway? It was obvious that Fate had decreed him to be the victor. They were needless, they were pointless, they were useless. For he is Hyuuga Neji and it is obvious Fate had decreed his victory. They should just give up now and save the embarassment of him destroying them easily.

He ignored the fact that one Sabaku no Temari destroyed Tenten in her fight, since, obviously, Tenten was a kunoichi and therefore weaker than him. Or the fact that Sabaku no Kankurou had a mobile weapon platform on his back, since, obviously, he was too weak to fight without cheating. He ignored the fact that one Sabaku no Gaara had beaten Lee, since, obviously, he couldn't be that strong if Lee, the weakest and most pathetic excuse of a ninja anywhere, could harm him so much. He ignored Aburame Shino, Uzumaki Naruto, Uchiha Sasuke, Nara Shikamaru, who had all several accomplishments under their belts, and their own source of pride (though for Shikamaru it was more of a source of fear -his mother's rolling pin was one of his greatest fears).

No, he ignored them all because he was obviously chosen by Fate to win and nothing would, or could, change it.

What he also ignored, but shouldn't, was that he was a mere human, a child at that, and completely and utterly lacked any way of actually understanding the Fickle Mistress. Far greater men than him had tried and shook their heads when they realized their failure, accepting that there were things greater than them. But the Fickle Mistress is also a vindictive one, and never took kindly to hubris. After all, her husband is called 'Karma' for a reason. And he knows Kung-Fu!

No, Neji did not acknowledge any of their existences, especially those two greenhorns, Uchiha and Uzumaki. They were so useless, they were late to their own defeats! Humph, just goes to prove how weak they are, at least they realized that he would defeat them handily and preferred to save themselves the embarassement- What's with all that noice damn it!

As Neji looked around to see what caused all this cheering from the stands (which was weird to him since he hadn't done anything yet), something green fell in front of him. Many greens.

Hundreds of leaves fell onto the ground, as if from a funnel, spreading out and then spirally spinning back into a core that seemed to have a slowly-revealed human shape, flowing smoothly in green-and-brown colored pants and sleeves...

"Uzumaki Naruto in the house! Respect mah fookin' authoritah dattebayo!" The blonde cried out once the leafy haze had retreated back to its storage seals, a wide grin on his face. When his eyes fell on Neji, that grin became vicious, vindictive and promising of great pain.

"Hmph. Loser." Neji sneered.

He shouldn't have. He really shouldn't have. Naruto seal-lessly transformed his clothes into a replica of Neji's, only colored the brightest kind of orange he could imagine. "Hmph. Loser." He sneered back.

"Stop it. Loser."

"Shut up! You worthless idiot!"

"Grrr... I'm going to hurt you!"

"Haha, you're going to try, Neji-chan!" Naruto had suddenly reverted to his other attire, only this time it was the same eye-raping tones of orange and yellow. "But, you see, I'm not like Hinata-chan. I'm most definitely not like Hinata-chan. Did you know she asked me to spare you?" His grin became bloodthirsty. "I'll make sure to buy her some flowers for your funeral as an apology."

Neji was unflappable. He was cold. He was emotionless.

But at that moment, he felt a very definite sense of doom crawling up his spine.

"Besides!" Naruto piped up, cheerfully murderous still. "Tenten-chan, you know, your kunoichi teammate? She asked me to kick your ass twice as hard. So yeah, I think I'm gonna follow her command to the letter. Wouldn't want to get a kunoichi with a penchant for metallic instruments of doom, death and destruction angry at me, would I?"

Feeling more than a little bit aggravated, Neji moved threateningly against the blonde, directing his body language to make him appear threatening and superior to his enemy.

"Man, do you have digestinal problems? You look constipated!" Admittedly, Neji's trick would have worked had Naruto not come across enemies that would make the Hyuuga look as threatening as a gnat. The smirking reply almost drove Neji off the edge and he raised his hands in clear threat when he was interrupted.

"There will be no fighting here unless I allow it." The proctor had arrived, a jounin named Aoba, if they were correct, chewing on a senbon.

I just saw you attacking him. Stop before I disqualify you for being unable to hold your grudge, boy." The man sneered through his senbon-toothpick. He had seen Naruto's provocation, of course, but the damn brat needed a lesson. He thought that everyone favoured everybody else? Fine, let's show him how it really feels to have no allies then, shall we? "Now, I see Uchiha Sasuke has yet to arrive, but I'm not going to disqualify him yet, he will loose his place if he is unable to appear for his match however."

Naruto nodded, but grinned inside. Sasuke and Kakashi had dropped by his house that morning and gotten one of his tracking leaves. He knew they were on the ledge of the arena, looking at the fights, but they wanted a grand entrance. He had tried to convince them to ride along his leaf tunnel, but they didn't want to so... Meh, their choice, because right now it's time to befuddle and bedazzle! To bring shock and awe!

Time to kick some ass!

On the stands, the leader of the Hyuuga clan, one Hyuuga Hiashi, looked down at his youngest daughter, and the one he actually considered a good one at that, Hyuuga Hanabi. "Watch closely, Hanabi. Your cousin is the greatest Hyuuga of all times, no one has inherited the Hyuuga blood more thickly than him, not even your sister. He is the future of the Hyuuga clan." He told at the eight-year old girl and saw her nod.

Oh, poor, poor Hiashi-kun! Why did you get up this morning?

Down in the actual arena, all competitors except those of the first match and the proctor left, leaving only the recording devices that would transmit the event around the countries. It was technically illegal to do so, but spies had spied the place so much, that Konoha decided to place some cameras there to just get it over with -and make a large amount of money from viewing and selling rights of course.

"Alright everyone, give me a good fight, no killing or I will remove limbs. If I tell you to stop, you do so or I will remove limbs. Give a good show. Ready? St-"

"Hold it!" Naruto suddenly spoke up, interrupting the man. He walked to the center of the arena and turned so he put Neji and the entire Hyuuga clan in his visual. "Before we start, I got some things to say." He rhymed out. "Ready, bitch?" Not waiting for an answer he smirked devilishly. "Then hit it girls, let's kick it to eleven!" Immidiately, a weird music started playing, like quick, rhythmic beats.

"I'm here to whoop your ass

I've read up all your facts

You kill cousins with a seal?

Well tell me, Hyuuga, have any nobility to appeal?

Think you're so hot with your little white eyes?

All I see is a bunch of constipated sissy guys!

Neji can do no better than finding girls to hit

And I'm up to here with your shit!

Hittin' girls feels nice, hittin girls feels good?

You're like the tantrum of a five-year old, dude!

Angsty 'cause you're Fate's bitch?

Do you even scratch that itch?

Grow up, man up

And drop your fuckin' ball sack!

It's true you'd look better in pink

'S more fitting we all think

Listen up, I'm about to make it rain

I'm here to bring the pain!

This is the end of the line, yo!

'Cause I'm Uzumaki Fuckin' Naruto!" Naruto finished by adopting a smug stance, arms crossed over his chest.

The Hyuuga clan was not amused. In fact, they looked ready to burst into puddles of blood by the way their pressure was.

Elsewhere however, many people had leaned on one another, laughing so hard they couldn't keep themselves from falling. Kakashi and Sasuke, Ayame, Iruka and Teuchi, even Anko and Ibiki were almost rolling on the floors, laughing at the sheer brazen audacity. Ibiki reaffirmed his belief that the blonde jinchuuriki had a gigantic set of high-grade steel balls to say something like this in public, in an event that was transmitted all over the elemental countries!

In Kumo, several ninja and their Kage groaned loudly. "Oh, hell/fuck/shit, there's two of them now!" A certain Bijuu wondered if it could perform suicide and escape its jailor; he was swearing he would go to meet this "buzzing new kiddo, disciple of the ol' eight'o".

In the arena, Neji didn't know what to do, he didn't know what to do! He had never been insulted this way! He had never been humiliated in such a public way before! The entire Hyuuga clan had been insulted in such a vulgar and offencive way that he just couldn't even think! He stood there, petrified, horrified and completely stunned, unable to even muster the basic function of breathing or keeping his heart beating. Slowly his face turned from shocked horror to murderous rage and he only thought of three things: 'murder', 'death', 'kill'. He didn't even wait for the 'Fight, Start!' signal before he launched into a vicious attack.

Neji's vision seemed to narrow and focus on Naruto, disregarding everything else, as if he were in a tunnel. His hand, charged with a lethal dose of chakra was launched forward and-!

He just hit an unfortunate leaf as the boy seemed to vanish from sight, appearing in the other side of the stadium.

"Gee, you do realize that you could have been disqualified, since you didn't wait for the singal? Never mind, I'm not gonna give you the chance to call me a coward, I want to kick your sorry butt way too much to let you go that easily!"

Neji was incessed. He didn't know how the damn loser had somehow escaped his blow at the last second and he had no idea how he had done it, but he wasn't about to let it show. So, he activated his Byakuugan. "Hmph, so you escaped. No matter, you cannot escape my eyes a second time!" He sneered.

It was only met with a hearty laughter. "I said 'I read up all your facts', right? I know of your Byakuugan, everybody does, it's supposed to be a doujutsu on equal grounds to the Sharingan, allowing you to see in a 360 degrees around you, see chakra flow to the point you can easily track the keirakukei and also see through objects... But, personally, I think it's just a-" Then he had vanished and Neji had no time to turn around at the sudden chakra presence his eyes warned him about. A strong kick landed right on his behind. "- LIMITATION!" Naruto cried out, falling lightly to the ground as Neji rolled away from him. "What's the matter Neji-chan? Didn't like it? I did promise I'd kick your ass for Tenten-chan, and I still have to start on Hinata's case." He grinned. "Your eyes may allow you to look around you, but your reflexes are your own; if someone surprises you or attacks from outside your range, you're just like any other person!"

"S-Shut up!" To Neji's credit he barely stuttered as he turned blood-red from rage and embarassment. "You know nothing! You're just a pathetic loser, a clanless bastard!"

Up in the stands, Gai facepalmed, followed suit by a recovering Kiba -the dog user might be arrogant but had gotten beaten hands down, he had learned better.

Naruto on the other hand grinned. "On the contrary! Did you even realize I let your entire clan live?" He grinned as he watched the Hyuuga clan members scowl at him. "Think about it! The paint balls I could have replaced with contact poison! The underwear drawers I could have filled with rigged explosive notes! The broken floor boards that I could have placed poisoned spikes underneath! If I'm a pathetic loser, then what does that say about YOU! I entered all your clan's bedrooms and not one of you found me out! I could have killed every single one of your clan and you call me a pathetic loser? Get your facts straight, Kinslayer!"

"Don't pretend to preach at me, you bastard! At least I have more talent than you will ever have!" Neji spat back, disgusted, and more than a bit shaken as he realized the truth of the blonde's words.

To many people's surprise, Naruto nodded at the talent line. "Yes, it's true; you have talent and have worked hard at it." Then his eyes turned cold. "But what about someone who has worked just as hard as you? Or ten times harder!" And he had vanished, appearing behind Neji with a powerful kick, making him stumble forward.

"A hundred times harder!" Again he vanished, appearing to the side for a knee at the kidneys, making Neji gasp in pain, even though he avoided the worst by twisting at the last moment.

"One thousand times!" Yet again he disappeared in a puff of smoke, landing a strong full-body elbow tackle on Neji's sternum, making his arms shake at the force he tried to hold back.

"How about ten thousand times, Hyuuga Neji?" Naruto disappeared again, but this time four of him appeared around Neji in a manji formation, kunai all around his neck so that if he moved or pushed them away, he would slit his own throat. Then the clones vanished, before the proctor could announce Naruto as the winner. "But this isn't over yet. I'm going to beat you, Neji. I'm going to crush you. I'm going to show you... exactly how it feels to be completely and utterly... dominated." He spat at the boy as his true body appeared from behind the tree.

"You... you lie! I am Hyuuga Neji, Fate has decreed that I win! You cannot go against Fate!"

"Hah! Fate? You think that a lowly human like you can ever possibly comprehend the will of Fate?" Naruto sneered back at his enemy in just the way he had been sneered at. Then he smirked. "Do you even know the secret behind my technique? No? Not even after having used it so many times already? Here, have a hint!" His hands, each in a half-ram seal rose in front of his chest and over his head. "Konoha Ninpo: Konohagakure no Jutsu!"

As the green cloud filled the arena, ninja all over the village and many out of it, all wondered one thing; Could that boy possibly have the long-lost Mokuton bloodline?

As Neji looked around, trying to find his way through the leaf mass, Naruto's voice sounded loud and clear, though seeming to bounce around. "While I lack the Mokuton, I've learned to manipulate the one thing Konoha has in utter abundance; leaves! I can use them to blind you, even with your Byakuugan. After all, you can't keep track of so many objects, can you? Even though you can detect the chakra in them now, you are too distracted by having to focus on a thousand leaves, correct? But I am not so limited; the leaves carry my chakra, everywhere they flow I know, everything they touch, they 'ping' back at me, creating an image of everything around me! In this place, my eyes are superior to even your vaunted bloodline!"

The Hyuuga clan's elders ground their teeth and the normal Hyuuga glared at the swirling green mass, but Hanabi was pensive. She was a genius for a reason; while her kin ignored and burried their emotions, she had the talent of being able to suppress them when she had to. That and, as a child, she was much more open-minded than them. She nodded as her bloodline couldn't pierce through the jutsu; there were simply too many objects that moved in her field of vision, unless she could focus on a single point of space, she couldn't even see a few meters around her. Not to mention the pounding headache it caused when she tried.

"You... You replaced yourself with leaves?" Neji cried out, feeling the jutsu weaken, though going by Naruto's smirk, it was done on purpose. "H-how? To do it, you must have filled them with enough chakra that any sensor would be able to detect, much less a Hyuuga!"

Naruto shrugged, the irritating grin never leaving his face. "Well, you know, when you're the student of Konoha's top infiltration specialist, you learn a few tricks. Folding your chakra inwards so it emits nothing is easy enough, even if I can't do it for more than a few dozen leaves at a time." Then his eyes turned cold once more. "Do you understand your position now, Neji? I am so much stronger than you, that you cannot touch me. I can replace myself with any one of these thousand leaves at any point in time. Without your taijutsu, your entire clan is pointless! What will you do now? Use a ninjutsu? Oh, I forgot, your clan doesn't learn any!" He laughed mockingly before his left arm pointed at his enemy. "Don't die too fast now. Konoha ninpo: Hadan!"

It was with a highly un-Hyuuga-like movement that Neji bent the hell out of the way of the three leaves that had suddenly shot at him. When he looked at the wall behind him, they had embedded themselves completely into the concrete. He gulped; that was worse than Tenten's kunai!

"As you see, I can turn my leaves into blades. Do you know what stops me from having turned my Konohagakure no Jutsu into a killing jutsu? Nothing. You'd have died in an instant if I so wished. From the moment you walked into this arena, you have been alive simply because I allowed it so!"

Neji was seriously unsettled now. The blonde clanless gennin had really allowed him to live. It seemed that the rumours of the boy being a useless dobe were unfounded. In fact, they were completely the opposite. He'd have to take it seriously or he could loose far more than just a match! "Fine then, I shall get serious as well! Prepare to face the might of the Hyuuga clan!"

Naruto laughed. "The might of the Hyuuga clan? You mean the might of the pink underwear clan!" Then he turned bloodthirsty again. " But it's fine by me, entertain me little Hyuuga!" He laughed maniacally as he sent another hail of leaf blades at the boy. "Entertain me!"

Neji was ready to move from the moment he spoke, but he quickly realized he had underestimated his opponen, how he kept doing it though, he'd never know. The blonde apparently could control the path of his projectiles! He sent only a few of them but spread over in a pattern that destroyed his chances of escape. He could escape, of course, but he'd suffer great injuries, at least a torn arm if not leg. So, wondering why the hell he hadn't gotten the hint when the Konohagakure was used, not to mention after seeing the accuracy of his replacements, Neji spun in place.

"Hakkesho Kaiten (Eight-Trigrams Heavenly Spin)!" He declared, grinning at the sight of all these troublesome leaves bouncing off. "Hah! Is this your best? My clan's absolute defence cannot be so easily pierced!"

What he received was laughter. Deep, belly-sounding, 'oh-god-my-ribs-are-breaking' laughter. "You... Hahaha... you think this... ahahahaha, you think this is an absolute defence?" The incredulous look, coupled with resounding laughter made Neji flush in rage, but he didn't move forward. His enemy had proven remarkably resourceful, it wouldn't do to underestimate him. "That, little Kinslayer, is no absolute defence." Naruto grinned and, with a wave of his right hand, parted the still-moving leaves and then spreading his arms wide. "Not since I can breach it so easily!"

"Breach it? Quit lying you fool! There is no technique that can breach this defence! It has withstood enemies more powerful than you can begin to comprehend!" Neji defended his prized technique and, why shouldn't he? It was a Main Branch one, a technique that had taken him a lot of work to learn and master, there is nothing that fool could possibly think that could pierce it!

"Is that a challenge I hear, Neji Kinslayer? Allow me to show you!" A few quick handseals, ending with dragon, and a punch later and Neji knew he had to start the spin immidiately. And it was a good thing too as the blonde cried out "Konoha Ninpo: Ha no Nagare (Leaf Ninja Art: Leaf Stream)!" Which unleashed a spiralling torrent of leaf blades to pour towards him.

But as Neji started spinning, he was terrified to realize that the leaves passed through his defence as if it weren't even there! Small cuts on his clothes, just barely deep enough to draw a drop of blood from his skin, littered his body.

"Wh-what? How!" Neji was quite adept at expressing the feelings of the entire Hyuuga clan at that moment.

"Not so hard really! The Kaiten forces you to spin, I just matched the direction of your spin, ignoring your defence, not to mention cutting down on my chakra cost since I hijack your own! Any technique that moves in a circular or spiral form renders your defence null!" Naruto sneered. Then grinned. "I don't even have to get that serious anyway, watch!" And he thrust his left hand up, causing a few leaves to shoot out of the ground and fly up in front of Neji's face. "Your Byakuugan can't see too far into the earth, neither does your so-called ultimate defence protect from that direction! By my reckoning, any Iwa shinobi could kick your clan's ass!" Then he grinned once more, spreading his arms to the side. "In fact, why don't you try to hit me, with your taijutsu? I promise I won't replace myself, nor launch leaves at you. Hell, I won't even move from my spot."

The grin was so infuriating, that Neji forgot his plan to taunt Naruto. He forgot about keeping his cool. He forgot just how sneaky the orange-garbed, ramen-obsessed, log-worshipping blonde could be.

So, he took the chance. After all, his Byakuugan showed honesty; the blonde would keep his promise. An instant later and he was in front of Naruto, already in a stance that caused the entire Hyuuga clan to gasp in surprise. Even Hiashi-sama! "You shouldn't have given me that chance, for it ends now! You're within range of my divination! Hakke: Rokujouyonshou (Eight-trigrams: Sixty-four palms)!"

And he was off, the eight-trigrams symbol glowing within his mind, as only he and his enemy mattered. Just as his fingers approached, ready to strike two major chakra points, and nerve clusters as well, something at the edge of his sight warned him to back the fucking hell off!

Leaves had come off the blonde's clothes, which he could now see lined with almost a hundred storage seals on each arm and leg, and then flowing like water to surround the grinning blonde. But what made him get away from them was the fact that their chakra-infused cloud extended past the leaf, something he noticed happened to the other leaves, the ones that had cut right into the concrete.

Quickly he changed his direction, coming from the side, but Naruto's hands moved and with them, so flowed the leaves, covering the weak point. Everywhere Hyuuga Neji danced to strike, leaves would already be there, covering their master. Eventually, he had to step back.

Naruto laughed as he saw the cautious look now on Neji's face. "Heh, at least you have some good instincts. Had you approached my leaves at any angle except from a precise 90 degrees, you'd have lost your fingers. And, as you can see, I need no handseals to control my leaves; chakra's made up of half mind-energy and half body-energy. I have worked this jutsu to such an extent that I only need to direct my arms to the general vincinity, kind of like what Gaara-san did. So, you see, this, is an absolute defence. I call it the Konoha no Tate or Leaf Shield."

"Grrr..." Neji growled, gritting his teeth at the upstart. He hated to admit it, but he was... he was outmatched. He was completely and utterly outmatched. Somehow, the blonde idiot had been taught extremely obscure and powerful jutsu... "You... you have a clan, don't you! What clan is it? The Senjuu?" He 'accused', though not once understanding how close to reality he fell.

Naruto's laugh this time was cold and cruel. "Clan? No, no 'clan'. No 'teacher'. You see, Neji, even though I'm Uzumaki, I have only been adopted to the clan, and it's been dead anyway, so I had no one to teach me. No mother to hold me. No father to teach me!" He glared balefully. "No, all this," He waved his hands and the leaves converged around him. "all this... is my own hard work. I was a looser in the Academy, because no one taught me. So I changed myself! I worked, long, hard and against more odds than you can possibly comprehend, and here I am! Not one of these jutsu are due to a bloodline, any Konoha shinobi could learn them, hell any shinobi period! And you dare mock my hard work by calling it a bloodline? You arrogance knows no limits, you damn kinslayer!"

"Silence! You know nothing! Nothing of the pain of the Hyuuga clan! This detestable seal they place on us, making us slaves!" Neji cried out, incessed about Naruto's constant defiance of Fate.

Another cruel laugh and Naruto slowly, deliberately, lifted up his shirt, showing the black markings of a seal on his navel, a seal infinitely more complicated than Neji's. "Do you honestly think you are the only person with a seal on them? News flash, Fate's Bitch! There are others with far worse burdens than you could ever comprehend!" Naruto roared, his chakra finally bursting out and showing everyone that at no point had he really exerted it. "It's time for the grande finalle, Kinslayer. It's time I beat you the exact same way you beat Hinata-chan; superior taijutsu!"

"I-Impossible!" Neji denied it, but still stumbled back. So far, that blonde bastard had done the 'impossible' far too many times for his comfort. "Y-you can't have a taijutsu style stronger than the Jyuuken! It... It's impossible!"

"Well then, suck on this!" Naruto called out, running through a few quick handseals, smirking as he felt Sasuke's and Kakashi's gazes focus on them. "Konoha Ninpo: Konoha no Yoroi (Leaf Ninja Art: Leaf Armor)!"

At once, all the leaves in the stadium, and more hidden in seals, reacted to his technique, converging on him, wrapping around him, covering him, leaving nothing but two, glowing orbs as eyes to flicker behind the shadows of his armor.

Not another word was said as Naruto rushed Neji, causing the him to rush as well, hands ready to strike. At least, he had learned his mistake from last time and the Hyuuga competitor covered his hands with a tough layer of chakra, it might help ward off the worst, but he'd still have to be careful.

But it was hopeless; the protection was all around the boy and filled with so much chakra he couldn't even see the circulation system behind it. So, deciding to gamble everything, score at least one blow, he gathered as much chakra as he could to his left hand and unleashed a powerful thrust with the weight of his entire body behind it. Hopefully he could pierce through it!

It is needless to say how surprised Hyuuga Neji was when his hand went right through the armor in front of him, a hole having appeared just as his attack would land. An excruciating amount of pain made itself known to him just a second later, and he fell to a knee, the leaf-covered form of Naruto looking down at him.

"Is that really your best, Hyuuga Neji? Did you even think about what you were trying to do? I could have severed your left arm from the elbow, if I had wanted to. My armor is impervious to most attacks; the leaves are as hard as steel and connected to each other, even if you drove all your chakra into my armor, at best you'd take out one of them and even then, only if you could overpower my chakra. Even a blunt force wouldn't work; I keep the leaf layer a few inches away from my body, buffering it from concussive forces! You'd need a jutsu, but a fuuton would be absorbed or negated, and a raiton would be pointless since I use wind-chakra, which is stronger! And if you're thinking about katon, that'll only work until I am able to harvest my new fire-resistant tree; its leaves are perfect heat insulators!"

As Neji looked at his abdomen, he only barely noticed the words of his foe, more concerned with the wounds on his body; the leaf blades on Naruto's leaves had made almost two dozen, three-inch deep gashes, all centered around his fist... If he had slashed, or dragged, his hand, rather than jab... If he had just aimed lower, or higher...

Neji looked up at his enemy, the light glancing off him at odd angles. He stood like a kami over him, untouchable by anything he had, superior in all ways, able to determine his fate with but a cold look...

"From the beginning, it was hopeless for you. From the start, I allowed you a chance to show off. Normally, I'd have killed you three times over. For insulting my pride. For insulting the suffering I and others have gone through. For insulting, berating and attempting to murder your own COUSIN!" He roared down, blue eyes blazing with something inhuman, a fury so ancient, so deep, that Neji wished he would turn those eyes away from him, he felt like drowing inside them! "But I won't. I won't kill you this day, Kinslayer. But, I want you to remember this; as you are to an ant, so am I to you! If you dare rouse my anger again, Hyuuga Neji, I'm going to destroy you! I'm going to remove any semblance of pride you still have left, and destroy your spirit, utterly and without a trace!"

Then he turned and walked away, as the proctor declared him a victor.

"Besides, the only reason I'm letting you live, is because of your 'weakling', 'pathetic' cousin. Hinata begged me to spare you, prostrated herself to me and promised me anything and everything I ever wanted, if I could just spare her 'onii-sama'."

Then the cheering came, at last rewarding the boy who had worked for it his entire life.

But the stands hadn't been calm. The Jounin had been in unrest ever since Naruto's rapping entrance. The Hyuuga clan was ready to declare a clan feud against the 'upstart'. Three councillors were looking down at the boy in grudging respect, one of them wondering if maybe he should lay off the blonde for a while, if maybe his state as a jinchuuriki, one that showed no special abilities at that, was in fact secondary to being a normal shinobi. Two Kages, shinobi village leaders, looking down with interest and respect, witnessing the birth of a new legend.

Commoners spoke along with shinobi and, no one knows where it began, but they all knew Naruto by a new name now; The Leaf-Style Shinobi!

Up in the stands, Ino was gawking at a smug Sakura. Even if the pinkette wasn't down there, she was proud of her teammate, he had worked hard for every single shred of power he ever acquired, he deserved the recognition he got.

"O-Oi... Billboard-brow... was... did you know Naruto to ever be so..."

"So strong?" Sakura finished with a melancholic smile. "Ino, he slowed down Zabuza, beat a ninja stronger than him, forced Orochimaru to back off, there's few things that are truly impossible when that blonde baka is around." She smiled fondly at her blonde partner.

Of course, Ino being Ino, she misunderstood the meaning of this smile. "W-wait! Sakura, don't tell me! Are you crushing on him?" Apparently, her friend's crush was more exciting than Naruto's show of dominance.

"What? NO!" She denied, quickly. "Don't look at me like that, Ino-pig! I am most definitely NOT in love with Naruto! It's just... It's just... I'm a bit... melancholic I guess. I saw him, you know, grow every day, work like crazy, exhaust himself and still keep going, fall down only to get back up again regardless of exhaustion, I saw him go insane Piggy, and yet come back from the deep end any time we needed him... I look at him now and... I don't feel jealous, and I'm surprised! I can't feel jealous of him! I feel... I feel pride and... and an urge to just work stronger, harder, better, than ever before!" She would have said more, had a cheery voice not interrupted her, making Sakura notice who was right behind her in the seats, for the first time.

"Yup, that sounds like Whiskers, alright." Tenten commented, looking down at her friend and the beaten form her teammate and former crush. "He seems to just bring out the best in people, eh? I heard even the Uchiha's opened up to him lately, the little brooder has definitely been smiling more lately. The midget even helped me with my techniques, let's just say that the next time me and that Suna bitch fight, it's going to be a whole new ball of game!"

"W-wait, aren't you on Neji's team?" Ino asked, suddenly realizing it. "If you talked to Naruto then why..."

"I didn't warn Neji-baka because he needed a wake-up call." She glared at the defeated form of her former crush. "I used to crush on him, you know, like, real hard." She smiled at the surprised looks the other kunoichi had, like they couldn't understand a kunoichi as un-feminine as her crushing. "What? I'm a girl! I get crushes, giggle, read girly magazines and go on shopping sprees! But... When I have to be a ninja, that all is turned off, I become as focused as any shinobi. No, I used to crush on him, so I studied harder than anyone to get on Neji's team, be 'kunoichi of the year', so I'd get paired with Neji, the 'rookie of the year'. Thought I'd have a chance then." She shook her head. "Lemme tell you, tall, dark and brooding is cute. But, angst day in, day out, will tire you. Besides, take a look at Naruto; he doesn't show it, but he's got a body to match Lee's. Here's a tidbit; I've seen Lee deflect shuriken on his abs!"

"Ab-Abs?" Ino and Sakura were equal parts disgusted and amazed, some part also quite interested.

"Yup. It was rather... enlightening. But anyway, Naruto-kun helped me a lot over the month. I feel like I really grew better as a kunoichi." She grinned a bit and then got up, moving towards the upper levels of the stands, where she had spied Lee and Gai. She quietly patted the gloves she now wore and the third scroll on the small of her back. Oh yes, if that Suna bitch showed her face again, she was going to get owned! But for now, she had to go visit Lee; Neji could wait.

There was another place where there was great unrest however; the betting booths.

Since everyone but a few had bet against Naruto, a group consisting of Kakashi, Anko, Ibiki, Iruka and Teuchi suddenly found themselves cashing in gains on a 200-to-1 odds. After all, Neji had not managed to land a single blow. Really, the only down in one Ichiraku Teuchi's day was the fact that, thanks to laughing so hard, he had spilt ramen on the floor. Well, he'd have to make sure to appease The Ramen afterwards.

At the Hyuuga delegation's seats however, almost all the clan was discussing the matter of the boy, not including a number of not that flattering adjectives and epithets they now lined up on him. Many of them also claimed that 'the demon' had also helped him, somehow.

But none of that mattered to Hyuuga Hanabi. In fact, beyond some confusion on what that demon was, she didn't really pay attention to the words of a bunch of senile old men. "Well, I definitely learned a lot today Father." She looked at Hiashi stoically. "I expect the marriage contract to be drawn up soon, tomorrow at the latest."

"Excuse me?" The man spluttered at his daughter.

"What? The man destroyed Neji, the one you said was the 'future of the Hyuuga clan', the in who's 'veins the Hyuuga blood runs the thickest'? And yet, the so-called 'no-name bastard loser' completely, utterly and totally destroyed Neji-nii-san, without getting hit even once!" She looked at her swaying father, as the man looked almost ready to faint or have a heart attack. The Hyuuga Elders looked worse; a couple were already requiring help for apoplexy. "He is a year younger and yet defeated the best our clan had to offer, one even you admitted was almost at jounin-level in taijutsu. Therefore, it shows that our clan's ways were not only flawed, they are pathetic, useless and pointless, they serve no purpose or reason. If we want to maintain our position as the strongest, we need to bring him into our clan, for if another claims him, we will not even come close." She reasoned, calmly, though secretly enjoying the reactions of her elders'. "The only way to guarantee his agreement in marriage is to offer someone of at least a suitable importance, being the heirs to the clan, either I or Hinata-nee-sama should suffice. Or rather, there's not much else we could offer him so that he does not release his techniques that devastated the best our clan has." She paused a bit. "Do not worry Father, I believe that blonde hair and blue Byakuugan would look very good as your grandchildren."

It was only the fact that medics were already there that saved Hyuuga Hiashi from falling off the arena walls to his death, thanks to the not-so-sudden fainting spell. It did not save him from the laughter of everyone who believed in the blonde boy and, as he had placed his clan's seats next to the Jounin box, they were many.

"Well, either Father is happy about having grandchildren in a couple of years or he will be very unhappy. I wonder if I should start seducing Uzumaki-sama from now, at least I should be able to entice him in some private lessons." Her schemes sent the rest of the clan into insensate torpor.

Next to Kakashi, Sasuke was in mixed emotions. Mostly, he was extremely pleased at his best friend's performance. It had been one worthy of respect and he knew the blonde was in all probability the strongest member of the cell, if only in wide-spectrum fights. Damn that Konoha no Yoroi technique too, it made him all but invulnerable to close quarters, leaving only the blonde's favourite style; long range ninjutsu showdown, which he would win nine-out-of-ten thanks to his immense chakra reserves. No, the blonde had come a long way from being a dobe. He had worked, slaved, cried, sweat for it and he had made it.

But, somewhere in the deeper recesses of his soul, Sasuke was also angry; had he not worked just as hard? Had he not been blessed with a great bloodline? Had he not been trained by the Hatake Kakashi, former ANBU Captain? So why was the dobe, the dead last, so superior to him?

Kakashi's firm hand, or rather his entire body as the man had leaned on the boy for support while he laughed himself to death, calmed him. He was not weaker, he had Konoha's strongest assassination technique in his hand, and no one else would be able to use it properly even if they learned it. No, he was superior, he was still stronger. After all, after mastering his sensei's jutsu, he would get down to learning Naruto's as well. Then again, Kakashi was still snickering, especially as he saw Hiashi, long a thorn in his perverted side, faint.

Next to a scowling Kurenai, Jiraiya was looking down on his godson, a smirk on his face. The little brat had deserved it, kicking the ass of that upstart little Hyuuga, and he knew that, even if Kurenai claimed otherwise, her scowl was more directed at Neji rather than Naruto. After all, the blonde troublemaker had only seriously attacked once, the last blow that finished the fight, not once had he unleashed the torrent of far more lethal techniques he had as the spymaster knew his apprentice would have preferred.

"Well, he definitely is chuunin-level, don't you agree, Kazekage-dono?" Sarutobi smirked at his equal on the Kage box. "He not only studied his enemy's technique but he was able to adapt his own jutsu to counter and nullify the famed Hyuuga taijutsu, a fact made even harder since he is the only one to be able to use his Konoha Ninpo style..."

The Kazekage glared at the blonde boy, who had somehow managed to trip on the last stair going up to join the other contestants, feeling his fingers clench and the stone armrest beneath them crack in protest. "Yes... He is most definitely a... great specimen of a Konoha Chuunin..." He still remembered the fact that this no-name brat had wounded him, without even the help of its demon! So annoying, so disruptive to his plans, just like that other accursed blond!

The Hokage chuckled and turned his thoughts on the defeated Hyuuga boy, it was a good thing the wake-up call came from Naruto rather than a foreign shinobi, at least his adopted grandson let the boy live, however much he shattered his arrogance. Then again, there was the matter of one very particular warhawk, even from here he could see the gears turning, plans forming, words and meetings arranged, all to get the boy under his control. Well, he thought as his eyes turned to steel, not on Sarutobi 'The God Of Shinobi' Hiruzen's watch! The prissy little cripple should back the fuckin' hell away from his adopted family before he bent him over his knee and spanked him with Enma's staff form!

At the same time, in the infirmary, Neji was looking up the ceiling, wondering just how he could lose that badly. True to the blonde's words, he had been dominated and, even if he had been struck only once, it didn't make the fact that he was at his enemy's complete mercy any easier to come to terms with. No, he had been struck only once because Naruto had been kind, he had taken pity on him, he hadn't taken his life as was his prerogative, and instinct, to.

Further thought came to a halt as a person came in, not just anyone though, the heiress to the Hyuuga clan and most hated person in Neji's life, Hyuuga Hinata, the girl still needing a crutch to walk, wearing only a kimono as she couldn't even wear her shinobi outfit thanks to her injuries. She came into the room and gingerly sat down on the chair next to him, looking more fragile than he had ever seen her.

"Nii-sama..." She whispered lowly, almost inaudibly. "Does it hurt?"

He scoffed at that. "No, my injuries are light. The medication has removed the pain but I am forbidden from exerting myself for the near future, as a few muscles have been cut."

Hinata sighed at his clipped tone. "Not that, nii-sama... Your pride, does it hurt? To loose to someone like Naruto-kun?" She didn't look happy at that, only frowning at his grit teeth. "I... I begged him not to kill you nii-sama, begged him not to hurt you but... He said he'd see... I'm happy though, nii-sama, he didn't kill you as he said he would... I was able to protect you, at least this once."

Oh now it was on! Did she think that it was due to her that he was alive? "You think you're the one who stopped him?" Neji spat at her, his mind whispering him that it was true, but he didn't want to listen. "And even if you were, why would you do that? Why show mercy to your enemy? Are you so foolish, so incapable of being a shinobi, that you would show mercy to one who wishes for your death?"

"What are you talking about, nii-sama?" She asked and turned to him, allowing for the first time in ages to meet her gaze, and the boy flinched. "I, not once, considered you my enemy. I don't care if you hate me, but I could never hate you, nii-sama. I will always try to protect you."

"Protect me? If you had wanted to protect me, then you should have sacrificed yourself instead of my Father!"

"I tried." Her whisper was so low that even with his shinobi training, he all but missed it.

"Excuse me?"

"I tried." It was louder this time, but no less emotionally charged. "I tried, I told them I'd go... I asked Father to have me sealed and killed for the clan... But... But neither Farther nor Uncle would hear about... F-Father said I was useless, not worth it" Tears now marred her kimono as her cousin couldn't even muster the will to speak. "and... and... U-Uncle said... he said he wanted to do it, he wanted to protect his brother and n-niece... He... he asked me to... to protect you that day and... and I couldn't because I'm a useless coward and... and nii-sama hates me... No matter what I did, I tried... t-tried so hard to save you from the worst duties of our clan b-but Father saw through that and... and he... he was so angry at me... S-said I was... said I was a mistake, my fault that Okaa-san died, my fault that Uncle died, because I'm just a useless failure that can't beat her little sister and... and..."

There were very few moments that Neji felt emotions the way other people do, a lifetime of suppressing them having made them almost redundant to him, but as he saw his cousin break down right in front of his eyes, he couldn't help but hug her and let her cry on his clothes.

Then, he felt his blood run cold as ice just as it seemed his skin inflamed hotter than any fire.

Her kimono had slid off her shoulders, just a bit, but a bit enough to see the skin of her back.

The scarred skin on her back. Long scars, circular scars. Vicious, deep scars. Not at all faded, fresh.

Less than a month old.

"H-Hinata... y-your back..."

The girl only wept harder and from her broken words, he could make out a single phrase; "Father was angry at me, again."

Scars and seals, he realized with a start, were they so different after all?

Hyuuga Neji was not a kind nor caring person. He was jaded, cynic and absolutely convinced of his beliefs.

But at that moment, he would give his immortal soul to get just five minutes with Hiashi-dono and explain to him, in no uncertain terms, what his feelings about inter-family violence were.

~~ Flashbacks~~

"Neji-niisan, c-c-could you c-come w-with me today?" Asked an eight year old Hinata.

The next day she was limping and flinching from her father's eyes, but he thought nothing of it.

"S-Sorry nii-sama, F-Father w-w-will be a-angry at m-me..."

The next day she spent in her room, but he thought nothing of it.

"N-Neji-niisama... Please..." A day after she was in pain.

"N-Neji-nii-sama..." She was in pain.

"Nii-sama..." Pain.

~~ End Flashbacks~~

As the two cousins held each other, that is how a great catastrophe of Konoha would find them.

But that wouldn't come for quite some time now, as most people were anxiously looking forward to the next fight, where two shinobi from opposing villages would fight this time.

Nara Shikamaru, resident super genius and cloud-watcher extraordinaire, was looking up the heavens because, quite frankly, it was too troublesome to glare at them. 'Why kamis? Why me? Not only do I have to fight a girl a second time, but my match came early too... Ah, I should just quit, it's too troublesome to-' Any further thinking was halted by Naruto shoving him off the rail.

"And stay there, lazybones!" Naruto shouted at him. "Chicks with short skirts and wind, that should wake up even you!"

"What the hell are you talking about, Naruto? I just want to take a nap..."

"As if you're ever even awake to go to sleep!" Naruto snarked, much to the chuckling of Kankuro next to him, even Gaara raised an eyebrow. "Now stay down there and give us a show, dammit! Ninja girls with weapons are dangerous things to anger!"

"Damn right we are! So get off your arse before I make you!" Temari snarled, anxious and terrified of what was going to come later.

True to his nature, Naruto decided to mess with her head a little bit. "Oh! Mistress, so harsh! Have mercy on us!" He shivered theatrically, getting glared at as well while he poked his tongue at her. "Not the ropes and candles again! At least use the silk whip!"

"U-U-zu-ma-ki!" The Suna-nin screamed, beet red and glaring at her snickering brother. "When we fight, I'm going to shove this fan so far up your ass, you'll be spitting teeth!"

"Oh noes! Temari-goshujin-sama is angry again!" He pretended to have fainting spell right into the hands of Aburame Shino, who was just too unlucky to be too stunned to avoid the blonde. "Shino-kun! Please hide me into your amply-spacious coat! At least we shall suffer this thorny paradise together!"

Shino raised an eyebrow. His left one, which indicated worried question, rather than his right one which indicated curiocity.

"Uzumaki-san, please extricate yourself from my clothing. It is most uncomfortable."

"Brrr! So cold!" Naruto shivered, momentarily henge'ing into a block of ice. "That why you keep such a heavy coat, Shino?"

"... My clothing preferences are not for discussion nor appraising. I wish to be left alone."

"Aww! Did you have a crush on Kanky-chan and got pouty he wouldn't fight you?"

'Kanky-chan, heh I'll have to remember that one!' Temari thought, still chuckling at the insane blonde's antics. She quickly refocused however. No matter how cute he was, no matter how cute anyone was, or how attractive or nice or whatever they were, she still had a heavy burden that she would have to carry. 'For the sake of Suna my ass... some idiot just got bloodthirsty but is too damn of a chicken to do something about it...'

The proctor however managed to get that temporary lull in quips as a sign to start the fight already, if he let those children go on, they wouldn't stop for days.

It was a match to... well, definitely not end all matches. Superior skill versus superior tactics.

The Suna ninja, Temari, was a mistress of Wind jutsu, unleashing many, powerful cutting gusts, strong enough to gouge deeply into the concrete walls, and not once or twice either.

Her enemy however was a Nara, a lazy, slothful clan that wished only to watch the clouds and live an average life. Unfortunately, they also had absolutely insanely high Intelligence Quotients, Shikamaru himself had over 200.

It a textbook-almost display of brains over brawn, Shikamaru trapped Temari in his shadow, using many distractions, advancing of time to elongate shadows and the small hole Naruto had dug with his leaves to get to Neji.

And he promptly gave up, citing low chakra reserves.

Truth be told, it was an exciting battle, but only to ninja, as it showed the tactics, awareness and grace-under-fire that a Chuunin required beyond combat. But, for civilians, who only wished to see flashy jutsu and fast-paced combat, it was a debacle. Admittedly, it might have been received better had it been fought before the almost legendary fight between Naruto and Neji -betting booths were still being swarmed.

But there was more trouble in paradise waiting for the viewers.

The top-competitor of the event, sole survivor of a powerful clan, wielder of a legendary kekkei-genkai and student to one of the strongest jounin Konoha ever produced... simply wouldn't show up. Twice his match had been postponed but now they were giving an ultimatum, appear in a few seconds or automatically forfeit.

Even Kakashi would admit they cut it close, but it wasn't his fault; pulling one of his legendary late routines on the entire shinobi world? How could he refuse?

So, just as the proctor was calling "Two... O-" He appeared, shocking the crap out of the man as leaves, left over from Naruto's show, picked up, spun, caught on flame and dispersed to ash, revealing Sasuke and Kakashi, standing back-to-back, looking rather pleased with themselves.

'I'm going to wipe that smug grin off his face dammit!' Kurenai cursed, trembling in rage at the man's cheek. It wasn't enough for him to get her under probation for neglecting a psychological problem of her student, but to break the rules to such a degree? Preposterous! Vandalous! Absolutely Unbelievable!

It might have become a little bit worse as her friend Anko, who still no one knew how exactly the two of them ended up friends while being so different, was laughing at her and telling, rather loudly, that her flushed, in anger!, face was a blush! A BLUSH! By Kakashi! What did she have to blush at him? Nothing! He might be a legendary ninja, with a damn handsome face when he took his headband off, unbelievable talent and a legacy in his own right, but she wasn't blushing! She was angry! She was furious!

"Anko shut up! I'm not in love with Hatake-teme!" She screamed at her friend, getting a 'denial is the first stage, Nai-chan' line from her friend.

Next to the two women, Asuma sighed. Was having a peaceful drag too much to ask for? Why, why did he have to be attracted to this cigarette-hating, man-abusing, strong-minded woman?

"Nice one, Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto cheered his teacher as the man came up to ruffle his head and ask how the match went, he had to keep up appearences after all. "Nice one, not as flashy as mine, but still, really got the suspence going there!"

Kakashi eye-smiled at his student. "Take it as a lesson then, Naruto-kun, pull them and pull them until they can't take any more and just before they snap, go full speed and ram it in! Give it all you've got! Full-speed and strength! Deeper and deeper, making them squeal in-" Kakashi began in a rave, until he was untimely interrupted.

"Ahem..." Baki interrupted with a nasty glare.

"Oh yes... sorry about that." He apologized, smirking internally at how he got a rise from the normally emotionless man. 'Yep, still got it!'

What could he say? The Sharingan had infected his mind with his old friend's pranking tendencies.

Well, the Sharingan did make for the ultimate pranking aid; not because of chakra seeing or anything, but because you would always remember the faces of those you punk'd.

Then again, it might be thanks to Naruto's pretties. Heh, he still had to thank the blonde for those plants. Natural stuff's the best.

But down in the arena, despite his smirk, Sasuke was pensive. It wasn't just the fact his enemy was strong, hell, that's what he had come for in the first place! It was that his enemy was a foreigner and a very bloodthirsty one. Against a Konoha ninja, he had no problems; both would hold back a bit, if subconsciously, because they are almost family. But a foreigner wouldn't have such problems; he'd go for the kill from the first instand.

Worse, Kakashi had warned him; Gaara wasn't a normal ninja. He was a jinchuuriki, a person selected for a burden beyond anything else. Despite Sasuke's original belief that having a Bijuu's power on your beck and call, it was quickly stopped by just a few sentences from his teacher. "Power? What about the demon within, attacking your mind, destroying your very soul? What about never sleeping or ever dreaming? What about the looks of the people, who think you are nothing but the Bijuu inside you? Jinchuuriki are not blessed; their demons take far more than they ever give, friends, family, bonds in general, being the first to vanish, a loneliness without beginning or end; most of them never know a mother's touch or a father's smile. Equal exchange Sasuke, equal exchange, but sometimes, it is not that equal..."

After thinking it for a bit, he agreed. Living alone, forever separate, hunted down by your own family, never loved or wanted... No, he had been in that hell. And he wouldn't wish it on anyone.

That is why he steeled himself; his enemy had no friends, no bonds with anyone. No mercy. But he had to take him down, not by killing but by defeating, hopefully by mercy.

But how to get to that, he didn't know. At least, he thought, Kakashi-sensei gave him a written version of a powerful anti-jinchuuriki seal to carry with him, just in case the boy went mad and lost control; even Kakashi might not be able to react in time. Of course, the seal would require skin contact,, which was easier said than done considering the redhead's absolute defence, but he hoped that he'd be able to make it.

So, lightly hopping on the balls of his feet, he launched forward, a speeding blur.

Spears of sand came at him, but his sharingan had long since warned him, and he dodged. Jump over! Roll to the side, take a kunai, make dashing slash, throw the kunai and replace with it!

"Fuuma Shuriken: Kage Hi-Fuusha (Evil Wind Shuriken: Shadow Fire-Windmill)!" Sasuke retrieved, deployed and unleashed his Fuuma shuriken at his enemy, filling it with katon-chakra, multiplying its destructive capabilities.

The last Uchiha clicked his tongue in annoyance. That sand was really troublesome. It was a completely automatic defence, Gaara didn't look from his sand, he had thrown a second Fuuma Shuriken in the first one's blind spot, but the sand still blocked it, proving that Gaara played no part in it.

Worse, he cursed, he had to move fast!

Up in the stands, Ino and Sakura were holding each other, tense and scared, having witnessed their crush just barely dodge the two, still red-hot, giant shuriken, thrown with such force that, not only did they firmly lodge themselves into the arena walls, but they had deformed mid-flight! "Sasuke-kun!" They both cried, but quickly turned to the chuckling Naruto in rage.

"Come on, Sakura-chan! Sasuke's strong, stronger than me in some areas! No way, no way, that metal junk came close to hitting him! He's just downplaying his skill to surprise his enemy!" The blonde said confidently, smiling as he watched his black-haired friend leap around to avoid getting filled with holes. "OI! SASUKE!" He cried out. "ARE YOU DODGING SO NARROWLY BECAUSE YOU'RE NOT SURE WHETHER YOU WANT TO GET IMPALED OR NOT? OR IS IT BECAUSE YOU WANT TO GET IMPALED IN A VERY SPECIFIC PLACE!"

Even while Sakura and Ino chased him around with righteous feminine fury, he still laughed, he'd seen Sasuke's smirk widen just a little bit and his pace pick up.

"Impressive my Eternal Rival!" Gai commented, but not as loudly as other times. "You have given him my Lee's speed! Truly he's a genius!" He said, sparing a look at his favourite student's hurt look, the poor boy was crushed. The Uchiha had learned in a month what took him months and years!

"Hmm... Did you say something Gai?" Kakashi snarked at him, knowing how much it annoyed the loud man. "But, really, no. Lee-kun gave him an advantage, but it's pushing Sasuke-kun hard, he's going to be sore tomorrow, but if he can pull through today..." He commented as he saw his student pull off another great kawarimi and launch a strong Gokakyuu no Jutsu. Even if it didn't hurt Gaara, it still heated up the sand. But it wouldn't be enough; Gaara was a jinchuuriki, he wouldn't have gone through B-ranked missions without a scratch if a simple Katon jutsu could stop him. No, Sasuke had no choice but to get serious...

And apparently, the boy himself had come to the same conclusion. Landing out of Gaara's apparent range, on an arena wall, Sasuke reconsidered his options. He could use the Karyuudan or the Ryuuka, which are a couple ranks over his Gokakyuu, but he had no guarantee that the redhead nutcase's sand would stay out. In fact, judging by the chakra running through it, he was sure that his katon would be ineffective.

'My clan house for Haku-chan, water should weaken his defences and her wind would have made my attacks much stronger but... seems I have to take the shot...'

He didn't really want to use it, Kakashi-sensei said that it was for tough moments only, and he couldn't use it many times either. Just two, maybe three, times per day...

'I have no choice... If the Karyuudan doesn't work, I'll be wide open and just as exhausted... No, this is the only way.' Finally making up his mind, he quickly flew through three, particular seals and held his right hand with his left, pointing it down and away from himself. 'To paraphrase the mini-green monster, time to abide by and protect my right to kick ass!' He thought, unusually cheery for his usual mood lately. What, he's happy to use a B-rank, kick-ass jutsu, so sue him!

Breathing in deeply, knowing that for the few seconds that will be impossible, and setting up his final ace up his sleeve, Sasuke dashed forward, leaving the sound of a thousand chirping birds behind him.

Spikes came at him, left right and center, but his sharingan told him, so he used them. Adrenaline making his heart beat thump loudly in his ears, he charged, head first, into his enemy's stationary form, covered by a thick sphere of sand.

At the last moment, his fist launched forward, the birds crowing one more time!

The dome of sand was opened, letting light in for only an idea of a second as the hole was firmly plugged by Sasuke's arm.

"Wh... what's this? Mother... Mother! It... it feels weird... is it... pain? It's pain! I'm in pain! Blood! MY BLOOD! AAARGH! I'M BLEEDING!"

Such was the surprise of the entire Suna people that they missed Sasuke's counter-snark. "Oh, shut up wuss! You ain't seen nothing yet!" Nor the little motion that released a catch in his arm-warmers.

"AAARGH! MORE BLOOD! MORE BLOOD! MY BLOOD!" Gaara shrieked in terror as he felt something else pierce his flesh, just as his enemy's hand had struck his shoulder. Inside him, 'Mother' decided that enough was enough and smacked the Uchiha scion back with her hand.

But she had no eyes to see Sasuke's victorious smirk as he made a hand sign. "Go to sleep, idiot! Katsu!" He commanded, causing the explosive tag on the kunai he had stabbed Gaara with to explode, right inside his 'absolute defence'!

Sand went flying and two Sabaku siblings that hadn't been fighting were already soaring through the air, ignoring their orders to stand down, hoping to get to their little brother.

Sand went flying and chaos erupted as the proctor realized that something was wrong and he was nowhere near being qualified enough to handle a berserk jinchuuriki.

Sand went flying and in the chaos of people feinting, attacks and counter-attacks, it slowly cleared to show Gaara, with his entire left side useless, bloodied and torn by the point-blank explosion.

As the sand cleared, Sasuke had no time to feel smug, because in an instant, Kakashi was standing next to him, blocking a kunai. A kunai thrown by a ninja, the Jounin Baki, Gaara's sensei.

Looking around him, Sasuke was stunned to see dozen other Konoha ninja start fighting... fighting against Suna shinobi, and Oto ninja?

"Sasuke!" Kakashi's voice awoke Sasuke from his stupor, calling for his attention. "We're under attack by Suna and Oto!" Pausing to kick Baki away with a vicious kick, Kakashi continued. "Gaara, he's a valuable part of the invasion! Do NOT let him release his Bijuu in Konoha at all costs!"

Of course Karma decided to mess around as, instead of letting Sasuke use the bijuu-suppressing seal there and then, the remaining two Suna Siblings grabbed their brother and ran. At least Fate decided to fix her Brother-in-Law's mess and had Gai kick a wall to rubble.

"Sasuke, wait!" Naruto, Sakura and Shikamaru landed next to the boy, kunai in Sakura's hand as Naruto had leaves hovering around him. "Wait, we're coming with you!"

"No, this is my fight!" Sasuke tried to make them stay, it would be dangerous enough as it was, he mulled as he tossed a bunch of shuriken to discourage an attacking ninja. "Kakashi ordered me!"

"Sasuke, take some help and go!" Kakashi shouted over his shoulder, landing a punch on Baki to push the man away. "No time to worry about shit right now!"

"Sasuke, Sakura, wait." Naruto stopped the two from going off, taking something from his ninja pouch on his back. "Jiji's in trouble, I have to stay... But, take these." He handed them a few weird fruit. "The violet grapes are for chakra, don't eat them unless you're almost out, you hear me?" He snapped at them. "They have about as much as I do at full-power, don't mess with them! And the red one's for you, Sasuke, it'll boost your Katon, hopefully, but it'll last for only a few seconds, so make'em count!" Then he pushed the three gennin through a wall, ignoring Shikamaru's 'troublesome' whine and turned around, leaves already forming a shield to block others from pursuing them. "Good luck." Even though he knew they hadn't heard him, he knew they felt his words, and he felt their own benedictions as well.

It was time to fight, Sasuke had it in his hands, he had trained for this enemy and Ero-sennin had told him he had given a bijuu-suppressing seal to Kakashi for Sasuke's use. Sakura and Shikamaru were smart too, they would be able to help. But, more importantly, he knew his own station in a village attack, in any combat; he was a hammer, a blunt, wide-area force that took down many enemies at once. Sasuke was the scalpel, he was the one best suited for one-on-one combat. In that fight, he might have been able to help, but Gaara had far more experience and talent in using his sand than Naruto had with his leaves. No, his place was here, and it was time to make it count.

Naruto, stone as cold and grim as a block of granite, so weird to be on his usually smiling visage, leapt to the center of the arena, hands already ready to start his Konohagakure. He made a subtle movement with his hand and readied himself.

"ALL! BETA-OMEGA THREE ON UZUMAKI! NOW!" Kakashi's cry came as he dashed at him and Uzumaki Naruto dove into his abundant chakra.

In that dark, vivid place where his power flowed like an upset river god, another being opened its eyes after many months.

"So... a guardian you are? Kukukuku! Fine, boy! Show me your strength! Weather the Hate! Quench the Fury! Control the Rage! Show me your convictions!"

The battle for Konoha's survival... had began!

A/N: And another one bites the dust, yeah yeah , another one bites the dust!

Also a minor disclaimer here; I don't own Epic Rap Battles Of History nor do I have any rights to them. For those familiar with the youtube show, I took and paraphrased four of their lines from the Chuck Norris vs. Abbe Lincoln episode. If ERB is reading this fic (which I doubt, but hell, you never know); you guys are awesome, great laughs with those vids!

So, I have two questions here: Most pressing one; should I have the Greenborn make an appearence? If they do, it'll be on the Saru Vs. Oro fight, the Queen of Thorns in particular. If not, they'll appear at a later date. Second one; should I give Tenten a bloodline? This is just to poke at Neji's looking down on her and her wanting to belong to a clan even nobler than the Hyuuga. If chosen, the bloodline will be a chakra-based one named the 'Tentei', or 'Heavenly Emperor'. No, it won't have Holy or Yin or Yang chakra, just normal elements.

A reviewer pointed out that the last chapter was getting too 'sexual' for his liking. I'd rather resolve that problem here; there will be NO lemons. Not between Naruto and his plants, not between Naruto and another human, not between plants and humans or even humans and other humans. I think there will barely be even a hint of lime there. Teasing however, or sexual thoughts, they are a natural part of life, thinking and hormones. So, is it strange that a girl in her teens (Tenten is older than Naruto so that should put her anywhere within 14-15 years of age, where she's just starting to get curious about things) would begin to get thoughts about people? Hell, they have thirteen year old kids train to murder; is it too much of a stretch to say that consistent use of chakra hastens the onset of puberty? I'd think no. Anyway, most of it was done in Tenten's point of view, which won't be there all the time. And Naruto is not going to tease his pretties (he's the victim there actually). Besides, I think it showed such hints from chapter 2; Naruto making sexual remarks to unbalance Kakashi. All in all, I don't think this fic is focused around sexual tensions or things like that; it's humorous first and foremost.

Hiashi isn't exactly evil, but he is certainly quite dark; not only had he lost his wife, but also his twin brother, believing that Hinata's birth weakened his wife so that Hanabi's birth killed her, and since Hinata is 'useless' then she shouldn't have been born because she wasn't 'worth' his wife's life. But, also, do not forget that physical punishment wasn't considered 'outlawed' until relatively recently in Japan, definitely not in a clan-based system such as in Naruto's world, not in a world where killing is an every day affair; he could beat her, abuse her, and call it 'discipline', and no one would ever be able to say anything. Which, with Hinata being so shy, means that she would never dare to speak to anyone about it, lest she brought her father's fury on them.

New Jutsu:

Konoha Ninpo: Konoha no Yoroi (Leaf Ninja Art: Leaf Armor)

Cost: B, Control: B, Rank: A

An upgraded, or rather altered, form of the Konoha no Tate, the Leaf Armor is made in much the same way, though it takes up more leaves to properly form. It covers the user in a layer of chakra-reinforced leaves, which are held at a distance of about two inches from the user's body. This is not only done thanks to the wind-chakra that turns the leaves to blades, but also because it provides protection against bludgeoning blows that batter the armor; otherwise, even if the leaves are steel-hard, the user would take damage none the less, since concussive force is transferred through contact. By eliminating contact, it nullifies such blows. Wind-based ninjutsu are not exactly nullified by the armor as they are ignored; the winde currents around it makes wind jutsu flow around the armor. Similarly, raiton jutsu are also countered since wind is stronger than lightning. The only real weakness of the jutsu is katon techniques, as they would easily burn the leaves, doubly so thanks to the wind-chakra infusion. Finally, it is possible for the user to not only break apart or reconfigure parts of the shield (such as to create added protection by a Konoha no Tate or increase damage capability via Ha no Nagare or Haken), the user may also create small bursts of wind from any part of the armor with little concentration, but doing so weakens the overall wind-chakra in the leaves and it is not such a great boost either for it does little more than temporarily boost a jump or dash.

OMAKE CORNER:

Alternate Neji Fight v1:

"You cannot win!" Neji spat out, nastily.

"Oh is that so... well, how about I beat you with just one, single jutsu?" His enemy replied, coyly and smugly.

"Hn! Go ahead, dead last! Give it your best shot, I'll even wait for your hadseals!" Neji would of course stick to his word, he would wait for the blonde's handseals, but after that, it was open season on his ass.

"Well, " Narut said taking out a large scroll from the pack on his back. "tell me, Neji, what do you know of Summoning Contracts?"

"What does that have to do with anything? Do you claim to have one?"

"Oh no, I don't." Naruto was truthfull and at the same time extremely smug. "See, Summoning Contracts take a long time to create, at least half a year and that's at best; free summons, summons on hand helping etc. etc. But, I didn't have that much time now, did I? So," Naruto smirked as he spread blood on the scroll. "I made myself a shortcut." He smirked.

Realizing that maybe he shouldn't have given the blonde the opening, Neji launched himself in a mad dash.

He didn't make it.

"Kuchiyose no Jutsu!" The summoning scroll, keyed to only a single being, was activated.

Then again, he didn't need a different summon.

Smoke billowed outwards and up, higher, higher, higher and-!

BOO-splat-OOM!

"Greetings, humans. I am Oberon, King of Treants."

Every single foreign ninja simultaneously thought the same thing: 'Fuck. Me. Sideways.'

Towering over the arena, hell, towering over the Hokage monument, the Treant Oberon looked down kindly at the humans that gaping at him on an arena that reached at most at his knees.

"Uzumaki wins due to killing his enemy by having his summon step on him."

Orochimaru proved his tactical genius in choosing to stay the fuckin' hell away from the giant fuckin' tree man of doom and cancelling the invasion.

Neji was dead, and there was much naturistic rejoicing!

Alternate Neji Fight v2:

"You cannot win!" Neji spat out, nastily.

"Oh is that so... well, how about I beat you with just one, single jutsu?" His enemy replied, coyly and smugly.

"Well, " Narut said taking out a large scroll from the pack on his back. "tell me, Neji, what do you know the cool thing about Shadow Clones?"

"What does that have to do with anything? Do you claim to even be able to use such a high-level kinjutsu?"

"Of course, otherwise I wouldn't have asked, would I? But, you know, the cool thing about Shadow Clones is that, despite being replicas of me, they have no physical body, not a stable one, they are merely masses of concrete chakra. Do you know what that means? They don't have a real Keirakukei, a real chakra circulation system. This, my dear Neji-teme, means that, if you know how, if you can modify them properly, Shadow Clones can be created while having their keirakukei already altered to house one or more ninjutsu, performing them without handseals. Do you get where I'm going Neji-teme?"

Neji glared but nodded. "Regardless, such a modification would take a long time to create, the jutsu's basis would direct the created body in a mimcry of your own."

"Precisely!" Naruto grinned at him. "Which means that I can't just create them in the midst of battle. Which is why, I came up with this." He said taking out a weird ball, it was half white and half red with a large, grey button. "This is my strongest modified Shadow Clone. I choose you! CHARIZARD!"

Neji had only enough time to think 'That's one big muthafookin' lizard' before the irritable clone decided to use one of the ninjutsu instilled in it.

Aoba looked at the pile of smoking ash at his feet. "Yeah... I think that qualifies as a victory... Oi, Uzumaki, good job now re-seal your clone and go back."

"Umm... yeah about that... I can't actually... you know, re-seal this one."

Moments later, the berserk clone, in attempting to destroy the puny brat who created him, accidentally incinerated the Kazekage. That point became moot when Sandaime saw the charred remains of his former favourite student.

Charizard was awarded a big medal, and there was much otaku rejoicing!

Alternate Neji Fight v3:

"You cannot win!" Neji spat out, nastily.

But, instead of a reply, Naruto took out a guitar, started strumming it and began to sing in a low, somber song. "Shoop da whoop... I'm a... charging mah lazoooor... oooooooh... I'm a-chargin' mah lazooor... to the end of time..."

"Hah! What an absolute weakling! Has your mind shattered to such a degree? Not unexpected when faced with a prodigy of the mighty Hyuuga clan, such as I! Idiotic antics and luck can take you no further! Now submit and save yourself the embarassement!" Neji sneered, but didn't notice how a few, more knowledgeable shinobi were vacating the seats; in his arrogance he hadn't even activated his Byakuugan to show him the humongous amounts of chakra the blonde was gathering.

Suddenly, the slow tempo of the song changed and it became faster, harsher, Naruto going into a headbanging state. "SHOOP DA WHOOP! I'M A-CHARGIN' MAH LAZOR! YEEEEEEEAH! I'M A-CHARGIN' MAH LAZOR!"

"Fine then! If your insanity is so great, I shall release you from your pathetic life!"

"SHOOP DA WHOOP!" Naruto stated, planting both feet to the ground, arms spread wide (can't damage the guitar after all) and opened his mouth, the booming voice continuing regardless. "I'M A-FIRIN' MAH LAZOR- BLAAAARGH!"

A few moments later, two ANBU were looking at the feet that were all that was left of the former prodigy, the exams cancelled due to immense property damage, at least the Hokage Monument now had a nice, long tunnel they could use. "He has been completely disintegrated..."

"Yes, but how?"

"Energy."

"What energy? Fire, electrical, nuclear?"

"No. Just... Pure... Energy!"

Naruto was identified as the strongest ninja ever, and there was much scientific rejoicing.

Visiting Naruto's Greenhouses:

Growing plants was hard work. Growing living plants was quite a bit harder.

Thanks to a regimen of high-quality fertilizer and vitamins, along with copious amounts of raw chakra, Naruto's Greenborn were growing in an accelerated rate; most reached their majority in less than a few months. He would stop doing it soon, of course, but for now he wanted them to flourish, and to do that he needed them to reproduce and age quickly.

However, that had a small, unfortunate event; all Greenborn went through an 'imprinting' phase, much like humans do. Only, in their case, thanks to the growth accelerants, they went through the entire phase in a single day, a day where the new living plant had to be watched and carefully nourished.

Therein lies the problem; Naruto was in the Forest of Death, the Dryads were communing with nature (a process that involved burning various specific plant leaves and eating glowing mushrooms), the Ents and Treants took until midday to say hello, the lest that could be said about Orks the better and Titania was... Well, Titania is actually the reason why every Ent, Treant and Dryad would curse the Flames of Youth.

Titania found it very funny to spirit away one of the treant saplings and set them loose in one of the many training grounds of Konoha.

Unfortunately for every Greenborn's sanity, she chose the one a certain... passionate... individual trained.

"YOOOSH! EXPLODE! BY THE POWER OF THE SPRINGTIME OF YOUUUUUTH! BUUURN, MY FLAMES OF YOUUUTH! I SHALL RUN AROUND THE VILLAGE ONE HUNDRED TIMES ON MY HANDS AND IF I CANNOT DO THAT I SHALL PUNCH THIS LOG ONE THOUSAND TIMES AND IF I CANNOT DO THAT I SHALL-"

The poor sapling was exposed to the power of Youth for almost twelve hours, as Titania forgot about him since she tried to play a few pranks on Konoha's High Coucillors (which involved glowing mushrooms, five-pronged leaves, smoke and cheese).

The next day, before even sunrise;

"EXPLODE WITH THE POWER OF YOUUUUUTH!"

It might not have been the first time Oberon and Hawthorn spoke as one, but it was the first time they skipped the pleasantries. "TI-TA-NI-AAAAA!"

And that is how the Green Beast of Konoha gained a mega-me to go with his mini-me.

But there was no rejoicing.

Today, on this 9/6/2012, I, Soulblazer87, do hereby leave this site, possibly forever.

I shall not update this, or any other story.

I shall leave them on, however. Should you desire to follow my stories, do so in my new site of residence: www dot yourfanfiction dot com.