Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.
C2: Again, if anyone knows of or has a C2 that this story would fit in, I would appreciate being added.
Updates: I won't give any excuse or anything like that, because I know that's not what you all want. You don't want excuses, you want results. And results you'll get.
In Memory of Deidara: Now let's all take a moment of silence to honor everyone's favorite clay-user, Deidara.
Chapter 19
Wind and Rock: A New Threat!
Genma smiled.
"Winner: Hyuuga Neji." he declared.
Neji smiled…
…As they ushered Neji out to get treated, the other nin commented, mostly in amazement, on the young Hyuuga prodigy. Tsunade simply smiled as she motioned for Shizune to start the next random selection.
The letters whirred as the ninja watched silently.
Subaku no Temari
VS.
Kataro Raigar
Raigar frowned.
"I didn't think I'd have to go this soon…" he commented.
"It's all right, just don't lose!" Tamaru exclaimed.
"…easy for you to say." he said testily.
"What? You better not lose! You gotta make it past the preliminaries, at least, so I can beat you!" Tamaru said.
"Trust me, I don't want to lose, but…"
"Confidence, Raigar! Have confidence!"
"Tamaru, do you even know who my opponent is?" Raigar asked.
"No, but you better win!"
Raigar shook his head.
"…whatever…"
Raigar leapt down into the arena to meet the already waiting Temari.
"He's of the Kataro clan… watch out for the hands…" Gaara's voice whispered in her ear as a wisp of sand brushed by her, then returned to Gaara.
Temari frowned. Kataro's. She wasn't familiar with them… watch out for the hands?
Shikamaru looked at the two, hoping that if Raigar managed to beat Temari, she wouldn't take it out on him.
"Begin." Genma said, stepping back.
"Forfeit now." She snapped, trying to appear formidable, "I'm not playing around with any of that three moons stuff this time around."
Raigar raised an eyebrow, but the others- minus Team 6 and the foreign teams, of course- remembered. Tenten remembered more perhaps more than she wanted to, wincing slightly. Last time Temari had given her three free attacks, and she still couldn't touch her, no matter what she threw. And then, Temari had taken her out in one attack. It was really embarrassing, not to mention painful.
"We're trying not to kill anyone this time." Temari said, "Don't make this harder than it has to be."
Temari was still unsure about what Gaara's message meant, and as she unfurled her fan, she studied her opponent. He didn't look particularly strong or anything. She felt sure that she could take him, whatever it was that he did, but her uneasiness led her to try to intimidate him into forfeiting anyway.
Raigar shook his head.
"I'm not forfeiting." he said, though he didn't sound particularly determined or anything.
"Then die!"
Temari whipped up her fan, blowing a cyclone of chakra-controlled wind at Raigar, who formed three hand seals before thrusting one of his palms forward.
"Wind Style: Wind Burst!"
A blast of wind emitted from Raigar's right hand, countering Temari's cyclone. The two wind attacks collided, finding that they were equal in strength. Instead of dissipating, though, the two attacks found other ways to go- namely, to the sides. A strong gust from the attacks whipped throughout the other competitors on the balcony, blowing them first one way, then another. Many of the competitors had to raise an arm to shield their eyes or grab the rails to keep their balance.
Temari frowned.
"He countered my jutsu so easily… and I don't have another method of attacking…" she thought.
As the final breeze from the attacks disappeared, a kunai whizzed at Temari from above, drawing her attention to Raigar's left hand, which was floating above her head, coming in for a punch. Her eyes widened as she swung her fan at the floating appendage, blowing a cyclone at it, countering the kunai and enveloping the hand. Raigar recalled his left hand a few feet, out of the wind, where it hovered, waiting.
Raigar held up his right hand, massaging the wrist for a little bit, and then the hand detached as well, floating like the left had. Temari gasped, a reaction that was emulated by many on the balcony.
"So that's what Gaara meant… Watch out for the hands indeed…" Temari thought.
Rasha smiled.
"Well, that Sand girl is quite startled… and disturbed… by Raigar's ability. Then again, who wouldn't be?"
Other than Team 6, nearly everyone had had a reaction at Raigar's floating hands- from yelps of disgust (Ino and Sakura mainly) to chuckles of surprise and appreciation from some as they saw the uses of the ability (like Neji). The few who didn't respond visibly were limited to Shino, Gaara, the Rock-nin leader, and Karken.
"Now let's go!" Raigar exclaimed, his hands rushing forward towards Temari, forming hand-seals separately, yet, as Kakashi knew, with the same chakra circulation as if they were forming the seals together. Temari swung her fan at the two to stop them. Raigar's right hand performed another Wind Burst, but at close range this time. The resulting gust from the two attacks colliding so closely was much grater, sending up dust obscuring Temari from view as the wind blasted the spectators.
When the scene was finally visible again, it revealed Temari on the ground, rubbing her jaw, Raigar's left hand just coming out of an uppercut. Temari was up in an instant as Raigar's fists closed in, moving away and swinging her fan again to another Wind Burst; but this time, Raigar had another strategy in mind.
"Lightning Style: Lightning Burst!" his left hand started to spurt lightning from his palm as, once again, his right hand used Wind Burst to dissipate Temari's cyclone. This time, however, the electricity carried through the air after the two wind attacks cancelled each other out, lancing towards Temari. If not for her quick reflexes, she would have been zapped. The lightning hit the ground at her feet as she blackflipped, her fan unfurling again as she shot an attack at Raigar himself. His hands were in no position to counter that attack, but it was sent from too far away and not aimed precisely enough, for Raigar was able to dodge it without much effort.
"GO RAIGAR! YOU SHOW HER!" Tamaru exclaimed, causing many to glance at him in annoyance.
"Easy for him to say…" Raigar thought, "While it looks like I'm doing good, my attacks take much more chakra than hers because she only shapes the air with her chakra. The original wind itself originates from her physical effort of swinging the fan, where I have no such medium. I'm doing everything directly with my chakra. Extended use of my Burst attacks is draining it quick. I have to try something else."
Raigar's left hand circled around to behind Temari, who watched both hands in measured caution, ready to react at the slightest movement. She tensed as the hands began forming half-hand seals again.
"Earth Style: Stone Arrows!" Raigar said, the tips of his right hand fingers solidifying into jagged stone projectiles. They shot forward in volleys at Temari, who raised her fan once more, blowing them away. But as she deflected them, she didn't see or hear Raigar saying "Fire Style: Fire Sword!" and a red-hot jet of flame sprout from his left hand, forming into a blade as his hand rushed forward to slash Temari's back.
"Temari! Behind you!" Kankuro shouted.
She spun and saw the sword just in time as it slashed down on her. Raigar wasn't sure what happened, but it looked like her fan covered her for a second and then she vanished, fan and all.
"What the hell was that for?" Tamaru yelled at Kankuro, "That's clearly helping her!"
Kankuro shrugged.
"I did it in the tournament when she was facing that lazy guy down there." Kankuro gestured at Shikamaru, "When he made that parachute with his jacket, to extend his shadow?
Genma remembered him shouting about Shikamaru's parachute cloak in the tournament. He supposed he should have stopped him last time, but with the battle going on and all… he had forgotten. He let it slide the first time, and this time he would too, but it really wasn't supposed to be done.
"It's all right." said Genma, "Just don't do it anymore in the future."
Tamaru glared daggers at Kankuro, certain that Raigar would have had Temari if not for her brother's interjection.
"It's his fault if Raigar loses this…" Tamaru hissed.
Meanwhile, a confused Raigar was looking around for Temari, who was nowhere to be found.
"Did she run?" he asked aloud, recalling his hands to his arms.
"Wind Style: Great Cutting Whirlwind!" came a voice from behind him as he spun to see Temari gliding on her fan, landing and swinging it at him, shooting a great burst of wind at him, unlike her focused cyclones from before.
"This is way more powerful!" he thought in alarm as he brought up his hands, forming seals, "Wind Burst!"
He tried as best he could to counter the attack, but did little more than softening the blow. His burst attacks were made for short, uncontrolled elemental bursts- not extended periods of blocking and wrestling against the jutsu of another ninja. His chakra couldn't sustain the jutsu for very long in practice, much less in battle. His defenses crumbled and a blast of wind knocked him backwards and off his feet.
Temari approached, frowning.
"You're tiring out." she said.
"I'm not out of tricks yet." Raigar grunted, standing.
The two faced off for what felt like minutes as they waited for the other to move, both breathing heavily from exertion. This is it… Raigar thought, At this point, it's all or nothing. One last shot. Good thing I have something in mind.
Raigar grinned at the thought as he launched into a string of hand seals at least 12 or 13 long, ending with an ox seal as his hands launched off again, in front of him, palms facing each other, the two floating about five feet apart. Temari grabbed her fan warily, waiting for whatever he was doing, reading to act in an instant.
"Wind Style: Wind Burst! Fire Style: Fire Burst!" Raigar said, as wind emitted from his left hand and fire from his right, blasting into the middle. Wind and fire filled the five foot gap in between the two hands, contained by Raigar's chakra as it swirled around in the center. As it whirled round and round, more wind and fire being added to the vortex by the second, it began to climb upwards where it spread out as Raigar's chakra lost its influence, and down where it drilled into the floor. All in all, the attack looked like a large tornado of wind and flame, spiraling out at the top as it gave the appearance of a gigantic firey funnel. Raigar faced his hands outwards towards Temari as he "pushed" the spiraling mass of energy towards her, leaving a path drilled into the floor as it passed.
"Hybrid Style: Hellfire Twister!"
Temari's eyes widened as the attack approached. The spectators, for the most part, were holding in their breath. The temperature in the room increased considerably forcing Genma to move back several paces and Tsunade to wipe her forehead with a handkerchief.
"This is his ultimate attack that he never revealed…" Tamaru breathed in amazement, "He was probably planning on using it on me."
"Don't flatter yourself." Rasha chided, "He wouldn't have to use that to beat you."
Down in the arena, Temari smirked at the oncoming attack and bit her thumb. Kankuro gasped, and then smiled as he realized what she was doing. She spread her blood on her fan, and then blew a strong gust with both of her hands. The concentrated blast shot towards the cyclone, and one could swear that they saw the shape of a scythe-bearing weasel inside the tornado as the two attacks collided.
"Summoning Technique: Quick Beheading Dance!" Temari declared as she pushed her attack against Raigar's.
A bead of sweat dropped down both of their faces as they fought to a seeming stalemate for the first thirty seconds. Then for a minute. Then for what seemed like forever, a never ending match of attacks where neither one would yield to the other.
Then something changed. Slowly, ever so slowly, Temari's attack pushed back Raigar's, inch by inch, until the entire Hellfire Twister dissipated, leaving a furious gust of wind to pummel Raigar, sending him staggering backwards. Temari's figure launched out of the dust screen as she swung her fan with two hands, catching Raigar in the side, sending him flying to the ground, where he rolled several times and was still. He began to inch upwards, but Temari was in front of him in an instant, kneeing him in the stomach so he fell over backwards, then straddling his midsection, holding her fan above his head as if to smash it.
"Winner: Temari of the Desert!" Genma declared hastily, as if fearing that she really would smash his head if he tried to get up again.
After a few more moments, she got up off of him and unfurled her fan, vanishing in the same technique that she had used before to get behind Raigar, appearing besides Kankuro and Gaara.
"A little too close." Kankuro commented.
"Shut up." she snapped, and he promptly obeyed.
Raigar stood warily, swaying a little bit, then walking up the stairs to rejoin his teammates. Kakashi said nothing, simply patting him on the shoulder and keeping a straight face. Raigar seemed detached as he stared down at the arena.
"Are you ok?" Rasha asked as he faced him, "You seem a little red."
"N-no… it's nothing…" he said, which seemed to only make his flush more apparent as he tried to hide it.
More silence. Finally Tamaru couldn't take it anymore.
"Grrr… RAIGAR!"
"What, moron?"
"I TOLD YOU NOT TO LOSE TO ANYONE BUT ME!" Tamaru yelled in his face.
"Well sorry we can't all be as good as you, huh moron?" Raigar asked.
"Well that may be true but you could have at least tried!"
Rasha shook her head and giggled a little. Raigar crossed his arms.
"It's called sarcasm, moron." Raigar said, "I don't think you're good at all, at least not compared to those in here. I'd be surprised if you were stronger than anyone, and in any case, I doubt you'll make it past the preliminary round."
"Oh yeah? OH YEAH? We'll see about that, idiot!" Tamaru shot back at his teammate.
At a nod from Tsunade, Shizune started up the battle selector again.
Hideyoshi Hiroto
vs.
Lenea Halkia
"…who are they?" Tamaru asked.
Kakashi pointed to the right from behind his book. One of the twin girls in the Cloud Team was moving forward, and the formidable leading Rock-nin too. Hinata and Kiba winced as they remembered the creepy Rock-nin, this Hiroto guy, as they tried to ambush Team 8 from underneath them. This was the ninja who ate a whole slab of concrete and called it tasty. This was the ninja who threatened to eat them the next time he saw them.
"Hmm… This is the ninja who Tsunade was saying was rumored to be a Jinchuuriki…" Kakashi noted.
The battle didn't take long. The girl's jutsu involved manipulating light and some cheap Genjutsus and flashes of light, which didn't seem to affect Hiroto at all. Finally he seemed to get fed up, declaring he was out of patience, then seemingly sinking into the ground as he phased into it. Seconds later the concrete underneath Lenea seemingly caved in on itself, making a huge crater some twenty-five feet across. He grabbed Lenea as she fell, holding her at the throat with massive hands, while he chewed something that filled up his mouth, that was crunching and grinding like stones. After he gave a huge gulp and Genma had declared him the winner, he stopped choking Lenea and threw her against the far wall, declaring once again that the concrete he had just ate was "tasty".
"That power…" Gaara murmured.
Temari and Kankuro turned to him, concerned.
"He's… like me…"
If before they were concerned, now they were alarmed.
"What? That Rock-nin?" Kankuro started.
"Like Gaara" Temari finished.
"This… could be a problem."
"Or a threat."
Gaara stayed silent, unblinking.
"Next." Tsunade whispered, disturbed at what she had seen. Shizune nodded vigorously, starting up the names, finally stopping on:
Tenten
Vs.
Krazy Kazmo
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Next: When our teams first met, I did not think that they were serious. After the last fight with the girl, my thoughts about this team's lack of skill seemed confirmed. However… I may have to take back my words. But, Tenten is strong! I know she is! Go Tenten! Show them the power of youth!
"Shut up, Lee. Don't use the chapter previews to chatter on about your youth stuff."
"All right, Neji…"
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