Hey everyone.
I apologize for the delay in the upload, but as mentioned before, I was prioritizing my studies over writing. That does not mean that this story is dead. It will remain very much alive.
Now that my exams are over, I can write again.
Anyway, Responses to Reviews:
darth56: It has indeed. And thanks.
AvatarUzumaki: Oh, Jiraya will get something for that…from Hinata. I hope you continue to like the story.
Spark681: Don't worry. I have plans for them.
Previously, on Naruto in the West
"Round 5 will consist of Shikamaru Nara of Konoha vs. Lady Oda, the Wave Dancer in arena 1…"
Shikamaru looked at a silver haired woman a year or so his senior wearing samurai armour and wielding a kanabo. A weapon he found too troublesome to want to be hit with.
"Eleonora Viltaria of the 7th Army vs. Darui of Kumogakure in arena 2…"
The Raikage's right hand man looked to see his opponent and saw a beautiful white haired lady wearing revealing, light-weight armour, ornate sword at her side, walking up to the arena. "What a drab…" he muttered.
"Kiba from Kirigakure vs. Haru from Testu no Kuni in arena 3…"
The two swordsmen glared at each other, lightning sparking between the two of them.
"Hm? You two know each other?" Mihawk asked.
"This bastard mocks my swordsmanship whenever we fight." The two contestants answer in complete synchronicity, then returned to glare at each other. "Stop stealing my line!"
"…and lastely, Aoi from Kirigakure vs. Mari from Sunagakure in arena 4."
Aoi looked at Mari, who was studying him in turn, before nodding in greeting.
"Been a while." He greeted her.
"3 years. When Lady Mei came to form an alliance with us." Mari nodded. "You still owe me a drink for winning that bet."
"You snooze, you lose." Aoi answered.
"Let the 5th round…begin!" Najenda announced.
Chapter 8; Tournament (Part 5)
Arena 1
Shikamaru and Lady Oda remained still, studying each other, gauging their strengths and weaknesses…and Shikamaru reading her body language, smirking when he realized something.
Reaching back, he saw Lady Oda tense, until she saw him pull out a bag of chips and start eating them.
Shikamaru stopped for a moment when he heard her stomach roar, wanting to be fed.
"Want some?" he asked, seeing her hold her stomach whilst blushing. "Come and get it."
Gritting her teeth and grabbing her kanabo, Lady Oda did just that, and Shikamaru realized that he might have underestimated her…
…'cause she literally danced through the wind at a speed that caught him by surprise.
Sure enough, he learned why didn't want to be hit by her club…it hurt about as much as his mother's dreaded frying pan…if not considerably more so…
"Really? Jalapeño flavour?" she asked, sniffing the chips before chewing on a handful, looking down at Shiakamaru in disdain.
"Isn't that a bit hot?" Shikamaru asked. Those chips had the hottest flavour he could handle.
"Kid, my family eats Ghost Peppers for breakfast, Reapers for lunch and Devil Chillies for supper. Something like this is nothing." She said, lifting another handful of chips to her mouth, and froze there.
"Kagemane no Jutsu, success." Shikamaru said from his position on the ground, his shadow linked up with hers only 5 feet away.
"What is this?" Lady Oda asked, unable to move.
"My family's secret technique. It is too troublesome to explain, so I'll have you leave the arena." Shikamaru said, still lying on the floor and controlling her movements as she walked to the edge, then over it. "It is too troublesome to get up and give myself more pain than I already have…plus the clouds are nice to look at right now." He muttered.
"Winner, the lazy little shit from Konoha." Riza announced. "Now get your arse to the seats before I have Lady Oda bat you over there."
Arena 2
Darui, unlike Shikamaru and his opponent, immediately began running through handsigns. "Ranton: Laser Circuit" he said, sending laser beams at his opponent, who either dodged or blocked the beams with a wind barrier.
"Arifar" she shouted in response, sending a windstorm at him in return, before engaging him in a swordfight.
"What a drab. Guess I can't ask you to resign, can I?" Darui asked.
"Sorry, but no. There are only 2 people in the world who can make me resign during a duel, my husband and the Emperor." She answered.
Darui blinked. "So your husband isn't henpecked? He must have a nice life indeed." he asked. "And the emperor?"
"One, my husband knows what he wants and is willing to go to great lengths to get it, but not at the expense of other's lives or property." She answered. "And the Emperor is a friend of the family you could say. My husband often invites him to go hunting during hunting season." Quietly she added under her breath, "And the Empress can be scary if she wants to be…", but Darui didn't hear that.
"Friends and family are important." Darui nodded, then saw Eleonora smirk.
"On another point, get ready to lose." She said.
"Really?" Darui asked.
"Yes. We've been blade locked for all about 20 seconds now…and I could gather the wind around us." She said happily, making Darui realize his great mistake and jump away, going through handsigns as he went.
"Katon: Endan" he immediately called, just as Eleonora unleashed the blast of air she had gathered.
The resulting explosion sent both of them flying in opposite directions, with Darui flying off the arena and Eleonora digging her sword into the ground just short of the edge, though she did dislocate her shoulder in the from the strain of her sudden deceleration.
"Winner by ring out, Eleonora Viltaria." Laxus announced. "And can the medics come over here? Got burns and dislocations here."
Arena 3
Nobody really understood what was going on here.
Kiba and Haru started off with a verbal conflict, then began trying to murder each other, then paused to catch their breaths, got into another verbal clash, engaged each other whilst continuing said verbal clash, paused again to catch their breaths, again, rinse and repeat.
All the while, Mihawk just stood there, eyebrow quirked, wondering why the hell they were arguing about whose style of sword combat was superior, when both of them were, essentially, using the exact same style without realizing it. A style that he analysed and found to be lacking in it's versatility as it was designed to be a single target style.
"Your mother is a whore!" Haru shouted.
"Yeah, well your sister screamed like one yesterday in bed." Kiba returned.
And at this point Mihawk was considering just killing the two of them. This was not what he signed up for.
After a few more agonizing minutes for the former warlord, Kiba managed to get under Haru's swing and send a lightning covered fist into his face, leaving him stunned enough to hold him at sword point.
"Winner, Kiba of Kiri." Mihawk announced. "Now, the two of you shut up about your stupid competition and be the friends you clearly are."
"WE'RE NOT FRIENDS!" the two snapped at him in perfect synchronism.
Arena 4
"Futon: Sandstorm" Mari began, covering the arena in a smokescreen…uhm, sandscreen.
"Yoton: Lava Bunshin" Aoi whispered, spitting out some of his lava and creating a perfect replica, which took his place whilst he moved a few steps to the side as his clone was suddenly beset by Mari's binding cloth.
In the stands
"Why didn't he use Katon?" Yukata asked.
"Because of the sand." Mei answered. "Had he used a fire attack, the sand would have melted and turned into molten shrapnel with a follow up wind-jutsu that. It is the reason why Aoi lost his eye during their first battle many years ago during a mission gone south."
"Why did the mission go south?" Kankuro asked, before his eyes widened. "It can't be…"
"Indeed. My predecessor made a deal with your father during the third great war. Peace between Mizu and Kaze for her head." Mei sighed. "Not long after the treatise was signed, Yagura launched an amphibious assault on Kaze no Kuni's most important trading port."
"And Mari-san hates Kiri for killing her sensei." Kankuro continued. "So, when her team and Aoi's team encountered each other back then…"
"Indeed. It's also what made Aoi decide to defect to my fledgling resistance movement, when he learned from Mari that Kiri betrayed them like that." Mei told him, returning her attention to the fight in the 4th arena.
Back to the fight
Mari, didn't let up on her attack once she realized that she'd caught a clone. She sent her cloth wiping around in an attempt to capture Aoi, who was proving himself to be quite elusive.
All the while, Aoi was making more of his rubber balls a little bigger than tennis balls, but packing them full of explosive tags, flashbangs or smoke bombs, which he then rolled in Mari's general direction.
After a long while, once she was surrounded by enough of them, he detonated the smoke first, forcing her to stop her attacks and use a wind jutsu to clear the air…just as Aoi detonated the flashbangs.
Yet, Mari was not a Jonin for nothing. The moment she felt the bright light seer her retina, she began covering herself in a dome with her binding cloth whilst pulling out a storage seal and releasing all the water it held, drenching the cloth just as the explosive tags within the remaining balls erupted in flame and broken floor tiles.
She did curse herself however for having fallen for his trick, one she'd seen him use on other Shinobi before during the last war, back when she was still a Genin.
She also had to hand it to the Mist Shinobi veteran. He didn't waste time.
By the time her vision had cleared, he had already cut open her cloth dome and held a kunai across her throat and another one pointed at her back where her kidney was.
Mari clicked her tongue, but conceded her defeat.
"Winner, Aoi from Kirigakure." Makarov announced, to the cheers of everyone watching. "Wendy, give this young lady a check-up. That much light must not have been comfortable for her."
"Coming, Master Makarov." Wendy said as she jogged over…only to trip on a small stone and fall on her face.
After a brief break during which the arenas were repaired, Najenda gave an announcement.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, we will now be holding the last set of battles for the first round. After Lunch, we will be holding the second round. Now, for the next set of battles:"
She grabbed a pair of slips out of the box.
"Gaara of Sunagakure and Kaede of Nadeshiko. Please head on over to Arena 1." Najenda said, taking out another set of papers.
Gaara walked towards his Arena whilst looking at his opponent. Kaede was a short haired girl wearing the classic Nadeshiko uniform, with the exception of a pair of bladed tonfa strapped to her waist…and a certain green book sticking out of her tools pouch.
"You read that crap?" he asked, pointing at the book.
"It's not crap. It's fine literature." Kaede countered. "I'd know. I've read the entire series multiple times. Only prudes don't read these pieces of art."
Gaara, beneath the sand armour, felt his eyebrow twitch. In the stands, Temari was radiating fury whilst Kankuro was making himself small, remembering the time when his sister found his own, now former, collection. He thought that Gaara before Naruto kicked his ass was scary…compared to Temari that day, he'd rather deal with 'Crazy, Psycopath, Homocidal, Screw-Loose, Short-Tempered Gaara' any day of the year.
"Jin from Iwagakure and Shiro of Nadeshiko, Arena 2." Najenda called out.
Jin was a grey-brown haired muscular old man who wore a sleeveless variant of the standard Iwa uniform. Both of his arms were covered in tribal-like tattoos.
Shiro on the other hand looked like a cross between Might Guy and Hinata…
her short sleeved uniform barely held in her slightly above average rack, but did nothing to hide the sheer defined muscle of her limbs, denoting her as a Taijutsu specialist. Her hair was a similar shade of black-blue hair as Hinata.
In essence, she was comparable in size to Hinata, but with Guy's muscles, comparatively to body size.
And to complete the odd look, she had a pair of trench knifes holstered to her hips.
…and that is also where the danger flags began…
Anyway…
"Ido of the West and Asumi of Iwagakure, Arena 3." Najenda announced.
Asumi wore a variation of the Iwa uniform that resembled Kurenai's outfit, her short hair pointing in every direction and her blue eyes seemingly drilling into anyone's soul.
Ido was a green-grey haired man wearing Samurai armour, holding a long pipe and casually smoking away…aaaaand looking high as heck.
"What's wrong with you?" Asumi asked, looking at the cooked Samurai with a twitching eye-brow.
"…'noting." Ido answered, taking another deep drag from his pipe. "…Just wondering why there are two of ya."
With the other western samurai
"Alright…we destroyed all his stashes last week…and killed all his suppliers. So how in the name of all that is holy did he get more tobacco and opium?" Oda asked.
"How should we know?" one of the other samurai. "He must have found a new supplier here in the Capital."
"At least he is manageable, even when high." Another samurai muttered. "And at least he isn't drunk…"
Back with Najenda
"…and well, we have only two people left, they can go to Arena 4…what were their names again?" Najenda asked, grabbing the last 2 slips. "Karui of Kumogakure and Renji of Tetsu no Kuni."
"Let's get this over with." Karui said, with the Tetsu Samurai nodding in agreement.
Renji was a black-haired man with steel blue eyes walking with a slight limp.
"If you don't mind me asking, but what the hell happened for you to have a limp?" Karui asked.
"About a month ago, I made the misfortune of encountering a certain pink-haired walking blackboard from Konoha whilst on a pilgrimage to the main Shinto shrine in Hi no Kuni." He answered. "Made the near fatal mistake of mistaking her for a guy. She certainly acted like one."
With the Konoha delegation
Sakura clenched her teeth and growled, remembering that encounter. Worse still, it had made her 'Sasuke-kun' chuckle a bit at her expense.
"I should have broken more than his leg back then…" she hissed out.
Back with Karui and Renji
Karui snickered. "You talking about that one there? The one that is glaring kunai at you?"
Renji looked and nodded. "Indeed, that's her. I see that she still looks like an effeminate guy." He then cupped his hands to his mouth and called out to Sakura, "AN EFFEMINATE GUY WHO LOST TO A CHILD DURING THE VERY FIRST PRELIMINARY ROUND! A CHILD FOR GODS' SAKE!"
Short Flashback
Sakura groaned as she was extracted from the concrete wall she had found herself in…her opponent was a small brat, looking no more than 10 years old. Didn't matter though since the little shit bitch slapped her, sending her flying into this damned wall, burying her up to her waist in it.
If it was any consolidation, the little brat lost to Sasuke the next round, but not before revealing that he was actually an adult with a growth disability, although only a few people believed him…
Flashback end
Karui snickered whilst the crowds laughed at Sakura's expense.
The two then heard Najenda announce the start of the matches.
Arena 1
Liza brought her hand down…and was instantly almost crushed by the literal avalanche of Sand that erupted from behind Gaara, bearing down on Kaede, who immediately jumped back and sent a barrage of Water orbs at the approaching Sand.
Beneath his Sand Armor, Gaara smirked. His distraction had worked.
Suddenly, Kaede was ensnared by a tendril of Sand that appeared from below her, wrapping itself around her arms and torso, then pulling down, forcing her to her knees as more and more sand converged around her, eventually covering her from neck to toes.
"Surrender, unless you want me to break your bones." Gaara ordered.
"Never…" Kaede began, but then let out a pained cry as Gaara crushed one of her hands, Riza flinching from the sound of crunching bones. "Alright, alright…I give."
"Winner by forfeit, Gaara from Sunagakure." Riza announced. "Medics, we have a busted hand and arm here!"
Arena 2
Jin learned three lessons during his fight with Shiro. Lessons he probably should have learned years ago. (Not in order)
Lesson No. 1: Don't underestimate a girl who looks like she can knock your block off.
Lesson No. 2: Don't brag about having beaten, raped and murdered a Nadeshiko Kunoichi during the last War…that Kunoichi may have been, let's say, Shiro's mother.
Lesson No. 3: Don't call any woman ugly simply because she doesn't fit your criteria of what is beautiful and what isn't. (Granted, his type was essentially purely housewife material, not experienced Kunoichi, but still)
And on to how he learned these very important lessons:
Lesson No. 1: Barely 3 seconds after claiming that the fight will be a cakewalk, After Laxus started the match, he found himself with a black eye, 2 missing teeth and a dislocated arm from a multi-hit combo she delivered on him.
Lesson No. 2: Before claiming that the fight will be a cakewalk, he boasted about his 'conquest' to her about the last Nadeshiko Kunoichi he had faced in battle…and what followed next was the aforementioned beating he received for Lesson 1 above.
Lesson No. 3: After coming back to his senses, he insulted her, calling her things like a disgrace to all Females in existence for not being a Housewife, resulting in her giving him an eery smile.
"Not a Housewife, is it? And what exactly do Housewives in your dumb imagination use?" she asked, subtly removing a scroll from her pouch.
"Pots, pans and other cooking and household utensils." Jin answered, to angry to notice the danger.
"Pans like this?" Shiro said, having quickly looked through the scroll until she found the correct seal. In her hands appeared a ridiculously large frying pan.
Jin wouldn't return to active service for a year…and would flinch whenever he saw his wife so much as touched any kitchen utensil.
"Winner, Shiro of Nadeshiko." Laxus announced, before beginning to sweat slightly.
"Someone should have warned him about blabbering like that before-hand." Shizuka commented.
"I agree, however he is a staunchly loyal Jonin war veteran. It's a pity he didn't get a chance to show of his true potential. He has all sorts of hidden gimmicks hidden around his persona." Kurotsuchi said. "And why is your subordinate looking at the proctor like he is a prime steak grilled medium rare?"
Shizuka shook her head. "She just found someone who fits the criteria we Nadeshiko Kunoichi look for when hunting for our husbands: Single, attractive and powerful."
Off in the stands, a certain white-haired S-class Mage felt more than a little twitch in her eyebrows seeing Shiro's actions.
Arena 3
Mihawk sighed. He knew Ido only in passing, and was vaguely interested in his unique brand of swordsmanship, somehow managing to invent the Drunken Sword style. Like the name suggests, it is similar to the Drunken Fist style of Taijutsu, only for Kenjutsu.
But Ido wasn't drunk right now, so the Iwa Kunoichi was holding her own against the slightly older male, who half the time swung completely wide, telling her to stop swapping places with her doppelganger.
That does not mean that she was having it easy though. Thus far she had only been able to land a few glancing blows as, despite being as high as the clouds, Ido was still as nimble as a certain big fat lazy panda dodging cannonballs whilst standing on a floating piece of debris.
"Hol' up." He suddenly said. "I'm getting thirstee." Before taking a few swigs from the gourd on his belt.
Up in the stands
"Well…there he goes." One western Samurai said, shaking his head in defeat.
"Gods above, he will be insufferable once the alcohol wears off." Another Samurai on the other side of Oda commented.
"I wouldn't be so sure yet. That young lady also seems to have an ace up her sleeve." Oda said, pointing at Asumi's hands which were stealthily going through several hand seals.
Back with the fighters
"Alrighty then…come on then…all three of ya." Ido said, swaying from side to side, pointing his sword either directly at her, or a bit to either side of her.
"You know, it is good that these Arenas are this small." Asumi said. "Doton: Harinezumi no keisei" (Hedgehog formatioin)
All around her, the ground suddenly erupted with numerous stone spikes that spread out across the arena floor, making Ido jump back and be forced into a corner.
And Asumi wasn't finished yet either.
"Raiton: Raijin no kekkai" she said as electricity leapt from her to one of the spikes, then another, and another,…, all of which shot off to another spike, sometimes linking up with another mass of electricity, other times splitting up into 2 or more charges.
Ido, despite his state of mind, realized that this combination of techniques was bad business.
Especially when all that electricity suddenly accelerated straight for him.
"Lightning strike" he said, cutting the first electrical strike, dodging the second, and being hit by the third and following strikes because Asumi had burrowed underground, and grabbed his right ankle, a) preventing him from moving and b) distracting him from the real attack.
"Winner, Asumi of Iwa." Mihawk announced moments before Asumi cried out in pain as she felt the muscle on her forearm having been nearly severed by Ido's final strike, when he tried to cut of her arm in order to regain his mobility. "Medics. We have a Priority 1 here." He called out, seeing that her primary artery had been cut.
Arena 4
"You are not going to use Ninjutsu, are you?" Renji asked.
Karui shook her head. "Unlike most Shinobi, I take pride in my Kenjutsu skills. And it isn't often that I get to engage in a dual with a fellow Kenjutsu specialist or a practitioner of Bushido. Using Ninjutsu would hurt my pride."
Renji nodded, secretly relieved. He did not want to be on the opposing side of another Ninjutsu barrage. Been there, done that, never want to do that again kind of thing, you know.
"You may begin." Makarov announced.
For a moment, neither side moved, with the one sizing up the other.
Then both of them moved. With a loud clang, their swords met.
The crowds cheered as the two of them seemingly danced around the arena.
Even Kakashi was surprised at the prowess these two showed.
And Sasuke was pissed…because there was some sort of barrier around the arenas that prevented him from copying their techniques. Well, not that he was smart enough to realize there was a barrier. The Sharingan can only see Chakra constructs after all…something that Rimuru doesn't have.
After a while the two combatants disengaged.
"After the tournament, we should spar more often." Renji said.
"If it helps improve the frosty nature of you Tetsu Samurai, why not?" Karui commented. "I mean, you all come from that Ice Palace you call a country."
"Shut up. At least we only have a frosty nature." Renji countered. "Which is STILL BETTER THAN KONOHA'S SO CALLED KUNOICHI WITH A BURNING TEMPER!" he roared towards a certain pinkette.
Karui chuckled. "If the situation allows, we should meet up more back home."
Renji smirked. "You happen to be my type, so why not?"
In the stands
Omoi heard this, then began to mutter his nonsense again…which was silenced by Lady Oda, who gave him a simple and easily understood ultimatum…
"Shut up, or else!"
…whilst menacingly holding her kanabo in her hands.
Reason?
Well, for once, Omoi wasn't spouting end-of-world stuff. No, he was fretting that Karui had just found her future husband…and would burden him with the duty of babysitting their kids when they were out…then them dying and leaving him to look after their kids.
…all of which had made Lady Oda self-conscious about her still single status and the fact that she hadn't found anyone yet who caught her fancy.
Back in the Arena
The two combatants continued exchanging blows, their smiles growing with each engagement, until Renji's injured leg became too much for him and disengaged, though Karui didn't stop her assault and forced him to give ground until eventually he stepped out of bounds.
"Winner, Karui of Kumo." Makarov announced as Karui slung Renji's arm over her shoulder and helped him to the stands where the medics would look at his leg.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, we will now take a 2-hour break for Lunch, then the tournament will continue with the second round of battles." Najenda announced and together with the 4 referees turned to walk out of the stadium as the spectators stood to do the same.
With Naruto
"So, Lil' Sis." Naruto began only to have Hanabi glare at him.
"I'm only 2 inches shorter than you…don't call me Lil Sis!" she snapped, though her glare lost all it's heat.
Naruto chuckled. "Sorry, but the nickname fits, since you are my little sister-in-law." Hinata giggled behind her hand. "Anyway, want to have Lunch with us?"
"Sorry, but I already have plans with Moegi, Udon and Konohamaru." Hanabi answered.
"Konohamaru is here?" Naruto asked, surprised.
Hanabi nodded. "My friendship with him is more through Moegi, but he's cute with how he tries and fails to woo Moegi, who clearly isn't interested in him in that way."
"Oh, is that a crush I hear in your voice?" Hinata asked.
"…No comment." Hanabi answered, looking kinda red as she turned her face away from them. "Now, I gotta go find Moegi and the others…" she turned on her Byakugan, blinked in surprise, then whispered something into Hinata's ear, which left Hinata looking stunned. "See you two later, Nii-san, Onee-sama."
Naruto blinked, then turned to look at Hinata, who was still frozen.
"What did she tell you?" he asked.
…
AND DONE!
So that concludes all 24 battles of the first round…and my word I have not realised how long it would take me to write all that.
For the next round, I have already got the lineups, but should any of you have any requests for pair-ups, then feel free to PM me or leave a Review.
Here is a list of the individuals who continue on to the next round (whose pair-ups I can change):
Naruko Uzumaki (West)
Gimli (West, Dwarven Kingdoms)
Might Gai (Konoha)
Izumi Curtis (aka a 'normal' Housewife) (West)
Natsu Dragneel (West)
Monkey D. Luffy (West)
Shizuka (Nadeshiko)
Bee (Kumogakure)
Legolas Greenleaf (West, Elven Kingdoms)
Kakashi Hatake(Konoha)
Kurotsuchi (Iwagakure)
Kankuro (Sunagakure)
Koyo (Tetsu)
Kiba (Kirigakure)
Aoi (Kirigakure)
Shiro (Nadeshiko)
Asumi (Iwagakure)
Karui (Kumogakure)
The following have pairings that I have planned out and won't change:
Temari (Sunagakure)
Ay (Kumogakure)
Mifune (Tetsu)
Orochi (West)
Shikamaru Nara (Konoha, I'll make his battle extra troublesome for the lazy fool)
Eleonora Viltaria (West)
Gaara (Sunagakure)
Feel free to R&R and don't worry, I don't bite…
I chew.