Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto!
Chapter 11: You're the Reason I Continue to Live!
"Show me the true power of the Nine-Tailed Fox!" Tetsuo charged Naruto head on.
Naruto quickly put up his kunai and blocked the sword attack with a loud clang! Tetsuo swung his other katana towards Naruto's stomach. Naruto bent backwards as the katana swung over him. Naruto back flipped and kicked Tetsuo in the chin sending him flying backwards. Tetsuo landed on his feet as he skidded back. Naruto threw his kunai at Tetsuo which he blocked but when he looked up, Naruto was nowhere to be found. Tetsuo looked around but Naruto was very well hidden.
"So he can hide his chakra level like me huh? Very impressive from one taught by the great copycat ninja Kakashi Hatake and the Toad Master Jirayia." Tetsuo looked around, scanning the entire landscape with caution.
Naruto yelled out from all directions. "Hey! Can you find out where I am?"
Tetsuo got angry. Naruto was playing games with him. "Damn you! Where are you!"
"You have to find me first!"
Tetsuo put up his swords together. "Ninja Art: Mantis Dance!" Tetsuo closed his eyes and spun around his katanas with artful finesse as he spun around in a twirl slashing at the air for ten seconds then in a flash he put both of his katanas back into their sheaths and as they fully went in, all the leafs split off from the trees, bushes and other shrubbery hoping to reveal Naruto's hiding spot.
Naruto laughed. "Nope! I'm not hiding in the bushes! Try again!"
Tetsuo grew even angrier. "You son of a bitch! Show yourself!" Tetsuo frantically looked around until something hit him in the face at full force, it felt like a fist. "What the hell?" Tetsuo rubbed his face and grabbed a handful of dirt and slung it in front of him.
The dirt hit something invisible and it coughed. "GAH! It got into my mouth!" The jutsu was broken and Naruto was brought into plain sight.
Tetsuo smirked as he stood up. "I found you."
Naruto finished spitting the dirt out and looked at Tetsuo with a focused mindset. "I see you broke the Transparency Jutsu, I learned from Pervy Sage a few years back."
"Transparency Jutsu huh?"
Tsunade slapped her forehead and sighed. "Not that crazy jutsu again. I can't believe Jirayia actually taught him that jutsu."
Hinata was curious about this jutsu Naruto learned. "What is that Transparency Jutsu Milady?"
"The Transparency Jutsu was a technique Jirayia used to brag about since we were kids, but he only used it to spy on women in the bath houses, that perv."
Hinata blushed and wondered if Naruto ever tried that technique to spy on her. "Nah! If he did with my Byakugan, I would have noticed."
Naruto reached into his pouch and pulled out shuriken and threw it at Tetsuo. Tetsuo quickly reacted by knocking them away with his two katanas. "That was dumb!"
"Oh yeah! Let's see you keep up the pace kid!" Naruto threw a shuriken and made a few hand signs. "Shadow Shuriken Jutsu!" Multiple shurikens appeared from that one shuriken and they whizzed towards Tetsuo.
Tetsuo had his hands full trying to block all of the shurikens without getting hit. There were so many he couldn't count them all. Tetsuo tried not to slow down or else it was all over for him. Tetsuo had to think of something to stop this seemingly endless barrage of shurikens. "Ninja Art: Wind Blade!" Tetsuo found an opening and swung in his katanas in succession and blew the shurikens back towards Naruto. Naruto noticed the shurikens new path was set for him so he ducked them quickly. "Ahhh!" Tetsuo came screaming a loud battle cry from the sky about to impale Naruto in the face. Naruto shifted his head to the left as the katanas struck the ground. Tetsuo aimed lower at Naruto's neck, but Naruto slid down to avoid it. Tetsuo swiftly keep attacking as Naruto kept dodging every attack careful not to get slashed. Soon one of the katana impaled a part of Naruto's jumpsuit cutting him a bit but it was only a flesh wound. It left him immobilized on the ground. "I got you!" Tetsuo used the other katana to finish Naruto off as it stabbed Naruto through the heart. Tetsuo smiled with joy of his fresh kill but Naruto poofed into a substitution dummy.
"Look who's the dummy now!" Naruto joked from behind Tetsuo. Tetsuo turned around and said hello to Naruto's fist yet again. Tetsuo fell on the ground a few feet away from Naruto as the katanas clanged on the hard surface beside him.
Tetsuo stood up with a bloodied lip. "I guess I should take it to the next level."
"About time you see that I'm serious."
Tetsuo connected the ends of both of his katanas and begun to twirl them in a circle going faster and faster at each repetition. "Wind Vortex Jutsu!" Tetsuo spun his katanas in a perfect circle as the wind started to pick up as dust and dirt swirled all around him. Naruto shielded himself from the flying debris. Tetsuo concentrated enough energy to blast a surge of wind infused chakra. Naruto stood his ground as it hit him full force. Naruto planted his feet firmly on the ground to endure the attack, but his feet started to slide and buckle from under him from the sheer power of the jutsu until it finally picked him up and slammed him into a tree.
Hinata stood up. "Naruto!"
Naruto seemed to be knocked unconscious from the impact. Hinata looked closely and smirked. Naruto couldn't be beaten that easily, so she kept cheering for him.
Tetsuo decided to put an end to that cheering once and for all. He held up his katanas in an X formation as flames engulfed the blades. "Pyro Destruction!" Tetsuo swiftly and quickly swung his blades as fire shot from them hitting Naruto full force setting that entire area ablaze.
Tetsuo smiled at his sudden victory, but his joy was short lived.
"Man! You're even dumber than I thought." Tetsuo turned around to find Naruto with his arms folded. "Surprised?"
Tetsuo was shocked beyond belief as he looked back to the flames and saw something poof. "Damn! It was a perfectly executed shadow-clone!"
"Well Tetsuo, it's been great fighting you but it's getting real boring so I'll just beat you now."
Tetsuo growled. His face was as red as his hair, so to speak. "I refuse to be beaten by a Genin!"
"And that's the reason you will lose!" Naruto charged Tetsuo head on.
Tetsuo waited for the perfect moment to attack and possibly take Naruto's head off. When Naruto got in range, Tetsuo slashed at him, but Naruto decked and slid up to Tetsuo and kicked him in the face with great force that made him drop his blades and fly into the air.
Naruto crouched down and made a plus sign with his fingers. "Multi-shadow clone Jutsu!" 50 clones appeared in the same position as the original. "Now it's time for my new technique, straight from Naruto's Ninja Handbook!" Naruto and his clones leapt up to the floating Tetsuo high in the air.
"I have to…" Tetsuo's eyes widen as Naruto appeared in his face.
"You said you wanted to see the power of the fox, huh? Let me show you the power without it!!" Naruto punched Tetsuo in the face sending him towards more clones.
"NA!" Five clones pummeled Tetsuo in the gut sending him flying towards more clones. "RU!" They smacked him like a tennis ball to both sides of the court. "TO!" The last wave of clones took turns kicking Tetsuo higher into the sky to when it looked like the arena was the size of an ant. Tetsuo was a bloody mess. He drooled blood and his nose bled like it sprung a leak and bruises were apparent over his body.
The real Naruto used his clones as stepping stones to catch up to the now falling Tetsuo. Another clone met Naruto and grabbed his legs as Naruto made a Rasengan in his hands. The clone then chucked Naruto with all its strength towards Tetsuo. "Ultimate Uzumaki Barrage!" Naruto used the boost he got to catch up and pushed the Rasengan into Tetsuo's chest. Tetsuo pinwheeled at the impact and hurtled at incredible speed towards the ground crashing at a force that made even Tsunade shudder and turn away.
Gedokuzai couldn't believe what he saw. Naruto made short work of Tetsuo who was a Jonin. "This boy…there's more to him than the nine-tailed fox. Could he actually be the next hokage?"
The dust and smoke cleared from Tetsuo's meeting with the arena ground. Tetsuo laid badly beaten coughing up large amounts of blood. Naruto walked up to Tetsuo and looked at him, then looked at Hinata screaming her head off. "Yeah Naruto! I knew you could do it!"
Naruto put up a grin and rubbed the back of his head. "What else did you expect?"
Tetsuo looked to his right and saw one of his katanas lying there. He managed to smile as he summoned the strength to grab the handle and look at Naruot, who wasn't paying attention while he blew kisses to Hinata. Tetsuo tightened his grip and began to strike but before he could Naruto aimed a kunai at his face at point blank range.
"If you would've took another step, you would've lost an eye, KID," Naruto put away his kunai as Tsunade and the rest arrived at the scene.
Hinata ran and kissed Naruto on the cheek. "You're the best, Naruto-kun!"
"Oh stop Hinata-chan, you're gonna make me blush." Naruto picked up Hinata and twirled her in the air. Both laughed as they danced around.
Tsunade tended to Tetsuo's wounds with a healing jutsu but he was still hurting a bit cause the Rasengan inflicted damage on his insides. Tetsuo barely managed to stand up. He was so embarrassed and angry at Naruto that he wanted him dead. Tetsuo clenched his fist till his nails cut his palm and blood trickled down it. Gedokuzai patted Tetsuo's shoulder and sighed. Tetsuo looked at him with a concerned look.
"Listen to me, Tetsuo. You may have lost today but I think you gained something of great importance…"
Tetsuo had no idea what Gedokuzai meant.
Naruto walked up to Tetsuo with Hinata latched onto his arm. "Hey Tetsuo."
Tetsuo still harbored some anger towards Naruto and looked at Naruto expecting another insult but found something else-an open hand.
Naruto smiled from ear to ear. "You're a great shinobi and I can see why you're a Jonin. Maybe you and I can become friends and spar sometime?" Naruto never lost his smile.
Tetsuo was speechless. He didn't know what to say. All he could do was shake Naruto's hand. "Uhh…sure." Tetsuo saw Hinata smiling and finally realized what she saw in him. Naruto's heart of gold.
Gedokuzai whispered in Tetsuo's ear. "You gained a friend. It's been a while since you had one of those." Tetsuo smiled back at Naruto shaking his hand.
"I'll be honored to be your friend."
Hanabi walked up and hugged Naruto's neck. "Can I be your friend, too?"
Naruto couldn't breathe. Hanabi was hugging a little too hard. "Sure…no problem…"
"Really? Oh thank you! Thank you! You big cutie!" Hanabi squeezed harder.
Naruto gasped for air from Hanabi's tight grasp. His cheeks turned a light shade of blue. Hanabi giggled even harder and blushed a dark shade of pink.
Neji sighed and frowned at Hanabi's sudden crush on Naruto, but one thing was for sure. She was a lot more open than Hinata was. Neji pulled Hanabi by the collar off of Naruto. "Hanabi-chan, it's time to go home now."
Hanabi pouted and sulked, similar to like a five year old throwing a temper tantrum. "But Neji, I wanna hang with Naruto-kun!"
Neji folded his arms and a stern look ready to say NO until Naruto intervened. "Maybe next time we can hang out. That's a promise." Naruto gave Hanabi a smile.
Hanabi blushed and her eyes twinkled as she held her hands to her heart and rocked back and forth with that fuzzy feeling in the pit of her stomach. "Ok, I could look forward to that!" Hinata clutched to Naruto's arm and laid her head on his soft shoulder. Hanabi frowned and pouted at Hinata. "Man, Hinata, you're so lucky," Hanabi winked. "But maybe I can be the flower girl at you two's wedding."
Hinata cooed at the idea and giggled simultaneously with her little sister. "I can't wait to be Mrs. Naruto Uzumaki!"
Naruto quickly turned bashful. "It's a little early to be thinking about marriage don't you think?"
Neji snickered very loudly to try to hold back the laughter. "Not for someone who had a crush on you since the academy."
Tetsuo was curious about Neji's comment. "That long?"
Naruto sighed and pouted. He realized what a dimwit he was…again.
Tetsuo looked at his watch and freaked as he grabbed his frustration. "Oh man, it's in three minutes! I better hurry! See ya everyone!" Tetsuo dashed from the arena in a blur.
Hanabi tugged on Neji's robe to his attention. "Big cousin?"
Neji wondered what she could want now. "Yeah Hanabi?"
"Do you think you can teach me the Eight Trigrams: Eight Gates Assault technique?"
"Why that technique?"
"Because the Chunin Exams are coming up and I need a move to clinch my chances."
"Well, I don't think your ready for that technique, but I can teach you an even better jutsu."
"Well let's get to it then!"
Hanabi grabbed Neji's hand and pulled him along. Neji was taken by surprise. "What, now? But you just got out of a tough battle not too long ago."
Hanabi flashbacked to watching Hinata and Naruto training all day and night one day yesterday and they bother were outstanding today. "Yeah, but if I don't train I'll be left in the dust by Hinata. I'm sure you understand cousin."
"Ok, I get it Neji," Naruto's stomach began to growl very loudly. Naruto grabbed his stomach and looked at it. It growled at him like it was talking t him. "Oh man, I'm hungry." Naruto glared at Hinata with a devious look. "Hey Hinata, race you to Ichiraku's!" Naruto started to run.
Hinata was caught off guard and started to run after him. "Hey, no fair!"
Hiashi actually chuckled a bit, but he had yet another coughing fit. Neji immediately turns his attention to his uncle and holds him up to keep him from falling. "Uncle, are you alright?"
Hiashi just brushed it off and placed his hand on Hanabi's head. "Do not worry about me or my illness. I'm under the care of Lady Hokage, remember?"
Neji and Hanabi backed off from Hiashi.
Tsunade gently placed her hand on Hiashi's shoulder and made a fake smile hoping they would believe it. "Lord Hiashi will be under the intensive care by Konoha's top medical ninja, Special Jonin, to be exact, who specialize in these sorts of matters so there's no need to worry."
Gedokuzai looked at Tetsuo. "Well Tetsuo, isn't it time for you to go see your new Genin Squad now that you're a Jonin?"
Neji sighed very loudly.
Tsunade chuckled at the sight but Hiashi attracted her attention. "Hiashi I…"
Hiashi closed his eyes and bowed his head in complete and utter shame. "Let's get to the point Milady, how much longer do I have to live?"
Tsunade took a deep breath. She hated doing this to people, so she didn't look them in the face. "From what Shizune reported, your illness should have killed you a long time ago but amazingly you've pulled through."
"Cause my girls were all I lived for. Maybe I have been a bit hard on them but I was just trying to be more of a parent ever since they lost their mother at such a young age. But now I know my girls, Hinata…and…Hanabi are in…good hands…maybe now I…can finally…….rest…." Hiashi's breathing dramatically slowed and his vision started to blur. His knees started to buckle from under him causing him to fall on them. Hiashi started a bad coughing fit that rumbled through his chest. Blood splattered on the ground. "Tell….Neji….he will make an amazing heir to the clan….and tell Hinata and Hanabi….they were the reason I continued to live…." Hiashi fell flat on his stomach and slowly closed his eyes.
Tsunade ran to Hiashi's side and kneeled beside him and checked his neck pulse. Gedokuzai slowly walked over to Tsunade. "Lady Hokage, is he…." Tsunade slowly nodded her head signaling that Hiashi is indeed dead. The somber mood filled the air as the wind ominously blew a large breeze through the entire village.
"Should we tell the others?"
Gedokuzai shook his head. "No, let's not spoil their day but I'll tell the clan their new heir and the death of Hiashi. I'll deal with Hinata and the others tomorrow."
"Ok." Tsunade and Gedokuzai looked up and saw eight birds flying overhand leaving one lone feather laying beside Hiashi's body. A sign that Hiashi had passed on to the other side.
