Grim Reaper of Iwa
Chapter 15
Yeah….sorry about the long update. You can blame it in a mixture of extreme laziness and…Ninja Storm 3. Yes, I beat it already. Awesome game and I will admit that I almost shed some manly tears.
XXX
Naruto sighed as he sat in the stands of an area his team and the other teams in the chunins were currently residing in. As soon the House of Horror was complete, they were all rounded up for the prelims as Mifune put it. No sleep.
Of course, those who had finished early were left alone to rest until the exam was done, but those who had just escaped were on their last legs. Oh well, nothing they could do about it. The arena they were in looked pretty simple, but it was in door. Mifune did say that the real third exam would have the ceiling gone, that meant the cold of Iron Country would be present as well.
These prelims were not what he was expecting. He thought they were going to be one on one fights. No, while that existed, there some strange rules. There could be one on one battles but there could also be one member of a team vs a team or a mixed team vs another mixed team. Any number of combinations were set forth in this exam and it set unease amongst most of the combatants….most anyway, but not Naruto. Mifune said that by working on a team like this would be required of them as future chunin.
He knew what he was capable of thanks to Zabuza and Onoki's training. Plus he felt that his team was ready for something like this. So while certain teams fought, his mind was somewhere else. It was at the time where he and his team got out of the House of Horror.
Flashback!
"Well hello there." Misa said with a calm smile but you could tell that she was a bit rattled for some reason.
Naruto smiled and said, "That was fun and all, but please tell me we passed."
Mifune nodded. "Yes, you all passed and guessing from your reactions, you didn't even know how long you have been in there."
"Very good guess, but could you tell us how long we have been in there?" Haku asked politely.
"Four hours." Mifune replied simply, stumping the three genin.
Misa giggled at their reactions. "Seemed longer didn't it?" the group nodded. "That is because time does not flow in there. The area is timeless."
"Zangetsu mentioned something like that but I wasn't really paying attention." Naruto replied truthfully.
Mifune's eyes widened just a bit at them actually meeting the warden and their original leader. Now that was something. "In any case, your team is only the second team to have passed so far."
"Seriously?" Kurotsuchi replied, a bit disbelieving. "Who passed before us?"
"Team 10 from Konoha. The Nara mentioned something about figuring out the riddle soon so that he could sleep instead of fight." Misa replied, making Naruto laugh, thinking that sounded just like Shikamaru.
End Flashback!
Naruto was brought out of his musings when the first battle ended. It seemed that Akatsuchi easily beat down the two man team of Choji and Ino. Not surprising to him, Choji was always a good guy at heart and didn't like fighting much. However, he fought as hard as he could to protect his teammate Ino, who was still a fangirl as far as he was concerned.
Returning to the stands, Naruto smiled as his old friend from the academy and said, "There is always next time man."
Choji grinned hearing those words and nodded as he went to go sit down next to Shikamaru while Ino went to go hang around Sasuke.
"That is one match down." Mifune said. "Now we see who fights next." Mifune then point to a large electronic score board.
Lee vs Shino
"YES! I would fight with the Power of Youth on my side!" Lee shouted as he jumped from his seat in the stands to the center of the arena. Shino showed no emotion as he slowly made his way down to the arena himself.
When both combatants were ready, Mifune said, "Begin!"
With that, Lee exploded forward from his position to meet Shino head on in Taijutsu alone. Now Shino was in quite a bind. He knew of Lee's condition from Kurenai and he knew that if his bugs ate Lee's small chakra reserve, the green spandex wearing genin would die. So, he would just stick with Taijutsu so that he would not kill a fellow Leaf Ninja.
However, while skilled in his family's unique taijutsu style, he was no match for Lee's relentless onslaught of his Goken. It was all over place and Shino actually regretted not using his small comrades for this battle. Oh well, there was always next time.
In actuality, Shino was unsure if he could advance in his first time in the Chunin Exams. His father had been….leery of him coming at all and from the stories of the man's own time in the Chunin Exams, Shino felt that he needed more skills and experience. He was right. His senior genin had wiped the floor with him.
Naruto winced when Lee used the primary lotus on Shino. That technique was brutal and it seemed the others shared his view.
He didn't get to muse much on Lee's brutal style of fighting because the next match was already decided.
Samui/Hinata/Temari vs Neji
Now that made his eyebrows rise up. A three woman team, each from different villages against Neji Hyuuga, the supposed Hyuuga Prodigy and Rookie of his year. Well, this would certainly be interesting.
"So, who do you think will win?" Kurotsuchi asked from her seat next to him.
"Hard to say." Naruto replied. From the interactions so far, it seems that Neji, being a branch member, has an intense dislike for Hinata, who is of the main branch. Add in Samui from the Hidden Cloud and Neji will be using a lot of his rage due what happened between Kumo and Konoha."
"That could be in his favor if he uses that rage correctly to power his attacks or he will let them control him." Haku replied on Naruto's other side. "What happened between those two villages?"
Tenten, who over heard them talking, said, "Kumo tried kidnapping Hinata one time so that they could gain a bloodline, but Hinata's father killed the man in his attempt. Kumo wanted compensation for that and Neji's father was given to them and killed."
Haku grimaced at that. Yes, this Neji would hold a lot of anger toward Kumo for that.
Neji, even already in the arena, heard all of this and growled to himself. Forget about fate, this was perfect for his own type of revenge. But to make his 'family' member fight alongside with someone from Kumo made his blood boil! Yes, he didn't care how, but he would win and kill them if he could.
"You three should just give up now." Neji replied. "I am far better skilled then you!"
"Somehow I doubt that." Samui replied
"BEGIN!" Mifune ordered.
Neji wasted no time rushing at the three girls with a fierceness in his eyes. He jumped over Temari's fan strike before landing on said weapon and then kicked her square in the face, knocking her back as he used that momentum to send himself at Hinata's scared form.
Yes, Hinata was not into this at all. The fierceness that her cousin was fighting with was something she was not used to at all. She didn't know that he held in this much anger and it was scaring her. Like Choji, she was not much of a fighter. She preferred healing people to actually fighting them, something her father didn't agree on, which drove her self-confidence through the ground each time they spoke to each other.
However, there was one person who brought a little courage to her heart. Taking a quick glance at the blond Iwa Shinobi, she thought to herself, Naruto is watching me. This might be my only chance to get him to notice me! And that was enough for her. Fighting in front of her crush was enough for her to gain some courage, even if it meant fighting alongside a ninja from Kumo.
In that split second, Hinata steeled herself and met Neji head on, surprising the hell out of him. With their Byakugan's activated, they engaged in a deadly dance of chakra enhanced strikes.
However, with trained eyes, Temari and Samui could see that their temporary teammate was having some trouble fighting someone from her family in such an intense battle. Nodding to each other, Temari struck first, sending a well place blast of wind from her fan to knock the boy out of the way.
Samui took that chance to rush Neji with her blade full of lightning. Not one to be deterred, Neji used the gentle fist style to encase his fingers with chakra to clash with the blade, intent on taking this woman's life. The hate in his eyes saying that much.
Hinata panted harshly as she watched Samui engage Neji for her. She held her left arm in pain and when she looked at it, she gasped at finding out that Neji had hit all the Chakra points in that arm. That was not good.
Temari saw this and asked. "Can you still fight?
"Y-yes, but I can't end this without your help. " Hinata replied.
Temari nodded but inside she was a bit surprised. She thought this Hyuuga was going to be stuck up like her relative, but apparently she was wrong. The male Hyuuga, Neji, was a stuck up bastard, but it seemed he had the power to back him up, if his ongoing battle with Samui was any indication. "What do you need?"
"If I can get him distracted for just a moment, I can probably land a well-placed strike to immobilize him. Maybe if Samui could throw her blade with some wind powering its speed, it could work." Hinata suggested making Temari nod her head at the simple yet effective plan.
With that, Temari called out her ferret summon to distract Neji, if only for a few seconds. Still it was enough for her to relay the message. Samui nodded and threw her blade straight at Neji's head as she rushed at him once more.
Neji, even with his Byakugan off, knew that he could easily dodge this Kumo Ninja's blade. Sure he was surprised when the Sand Ninja used some wind jutsu to make it go faster, but he still dodged it. Or at least he thought he did because he felt the blade slice into his cheek.
That pissed him off. How could be hurt by people beneath him! He was a Hyuuga damnit. He was better them by birth alone! Neji swung back around with a chakra enhanced palm strike, intent on taking the bitch's life with a well-placed strike to the heart.
However, he was stunned to see that Samui had backed away and in her place was Hinata and she struck at him in a mirror move, both Hyuuga striking the other's heart.
Silence. No one spoke as every watch the entire event with bated breath. Kiba and Shino were the most concerned for their teammate. Sure Shino was beat up by Lee, but he was still conscious enough to stay and watch.
Speaking of Lee, he and Tenten were both watching the entire battle was awe before it turned to horror for their teammate.
Still, the final strike left everyone speechless, wanting to know if they were ok or not.
Finally, Neji managed to speak with a weak voice. "Why?"
Hinata, despite the pain, smiled sadly. "I know that you hate me. Ever since that incident, you have always hated me and I can understand somewhat." She took a breath as they stood in a same stance, daring not to move. "That is why, I will do what I can to help you, even if it means beating you."
"W-what?" Neji asked, cursing his own weakness. "Why would bother to help me! I am part of the branch family!"
"It is because you family that I want to help you." Hinata replied, her voice getting weaker, but the conviction in her voice was known. "I will bring the family together and get rid of the Caged Bird Seal. I promise." She paused at that, thinking of what Naruto was like in the academy when he made a promise. "Because that is my nindo, my ninja way!"
Neji was speechless. He did know what to say or how to feel. Maybe, just maybe, he had Hinata pegged wrong. And another thought came to mind at the mention of his seal. She could have use that at any point in the fight but she didn't. Was she truly not like the others of the main branch.
He would have to find out later because a few second later, he collapsed, his heart failing due to the strike. Hinata soon joined him on the floor, the two Hyuugas lying next to each other as the match was called and the medics rushed the two of them to the infirmary.
Mifune sighed as he waited for the next match to begin. He was not sure how, but it seemed something big had happened between the two Hyuugas. He just hoped what was said got through to the boy. And it seemed that others in this exam were thinking the same way.
Turning his head to the multiple hidden cameras around the arena, he had one thought on his mind. Are you watching, Hiashi Hyuuga? Your daughter is not weak for wanting to help others.
Still, Hinata had been knocked out of the exams, but her temporary teammates were able to advance since she basically won it for them.A ping sounded throughout the arena and all looked at the scoreboard for the next match.
Suzumebachi vs Kabuto
Naruto raised an eyebrow at that as the two combatants made their way down to the arena. He had a good feeling that Suzumebachi would win this but he was just not sure about Kabuto's power. Still, his mind was not really paying attention to this battle even as it started.
He was miffed that a single glance in his direction could change that girl's resolve in a high stakes moment like that. How was it that he gave her courage? Sure he was loud and obnoxious in the academy, but to draw strength from that? He was just not sure. He also doubted that she liked him that much either.
Still, he had to admit that last tactic of hers was a good one, dangerous considering her opponent, but good nonetheless in the use of a distraction to pull off the win for her team.
Kurotsuchi on the hand was a bit pissed off. From the moment that girl tried getting in the little Harem Naruto had accidently made, the other girls thought the young Hyuuga didn't have it in her to make a move like that! It spoke of her character just a bit. If Hinata could use a distraction like that in battle, could she do that somehow in real life to get Naruto?
Hinata Hyuuga would require a watchful eye in her opinion.
Temari also though the same thing as she locked eyes with Kurotsuchi, Misa, and Fu.
For those actually paying attention to the battle at hand and not their love lives, the battle between Suzumebachi and Kabuto was not over. However, it was not a spectacular battle seeing that Kabuto lost.
The next battle was Fu against her two teammates with the Cloud Ninja Omoi on their side. However, Fu's teammates knew that they were no match for her and even with Omoi's sword skills on their side, they lost with little effort of Fu's part.
The same could be said for Kurotsuchi and Guren's battle. Guren did her best with her Crystal Style jutsu, it just wasn't enough. Kurotsuchi beat Guren, but not without trouble. The two girls were highly skilled and neither would go down. In the end, all Kurotsuchi had to do was blow up the little landscape Guren had created to mimic her boyfriend's Ice Tundra. Of course that left Kurotsuchi in bad shape but she still won.
Now Naruto felt bored out of his mind. While the battles were entertaining, he really wanted to get out there and fight as well! So, staring at the scoreboard in hopes that it would reveal his name, he was disappointed to find out that that it was all of Team 7 vs Karui, Haku, and Tenten. Now that made his eyes widen….well after complaining about not being able to fight that is.
Still, that new line up interested him. Hinata's make shift team managed to win thanks to her, he wondered if Haku could pull it off with Karui and Tenten.
XXX
Surprisingly no, he could not. That team just could not mesh with each other. Haku, while being calm and collected most of the time, could not handle the free for all that his battle basically was. Tenten, didn't feel comfortable fighting alongside them that much and went nuts with her weapons, which managed to put Sakura out of commission. Plus, her personality didn't mesh well with Karui's and they were often seen butting heads. That lead to Sai, beating her with his Ink Based Jutsu.
Sure, while Sasuke managed keep up the fight with Haku, he was about to lose, but once again Sai, came up with an aerial ink jutsu and dropped said ink on his ice mirrors, blinding him for a few second, which was all Sasuke needed to use a well place fireball to knock the ice user out.
That left Karui all by herself. However, she was easily fooled by Sai's Ink Clone when it melted, which left her open for a Sharingan enhanced genjutsu from Sasuke that took her out of the battle.
Honestly, Naruto thought Haku could have pulled it off, but after hanging out with Karui and her team, he guessed it was a reasonable lose. Still, he should have been used to strong willed girls thanks to Kurotsuchi being on their team. Maybe it was just a trust issue…oh well.
Gaara vs Kiba
Kiba blinked at that before smirking. Sure he didn't know much about Gaara other than he knew Naruto and the blond, while being related to someone strong like the Fourth, was still weak in his opinion. So that meant Gaara was weak….right? Oh well whatever, he would win and gloat about it later.
"Come on Akamaru, we got this in the bag!" Kiba shouted as he made his way down to the arena. Akamaru looked at his human partner nervously. Sure Kiba was brash, but come on, if he just used his instincts, the human would know that this battle was a bad idea. Ugh, the things he did for love.
Gaara stared at his opponent with disinterest. He could tell that the dog was wary of him, which was smart, but Kiba thought he had this in the bag…fool. The Inuzuka didn't even know the extent of his power!
Oh well, he would find out today, but he would not kill the dog user. He was beyond simple killings thanks to Naruto beating some sense into him. He owed Naruto a lot for what he did and he will always be grateful for pulling him out the darkness.
"Begin." Mifune stated as the two stood across from each other.
Kiba wasted no time rushing at Gaara with kunai drawn. He was a bit confused as to why Gaara was just standing there with his arms crossed like that, but the confusion soon wore off to annoyance when a wall of sand blocked his attempt at close combat.
"Fine! You want to play like that!" Kiba roared as he and Akamaru performed their man beast clone jutsu to look like feral versions of each other. "Fang over Fang!" He roared as he and Akamaru came spiraling in on both sides of Gaara.
Still, his sand defense came with each attack, and Kiba just kept up his attacks until he was out of breath. Even he doubted a smoke bomb with work in this battle.
Gaara merely blinked when Kiba took a rest. "Is that it? Very well, my turn."
"Wha-?" Kiba managed to say as he and Akamaru were knocked into the air by a wall of sand. It only took a few seconds, but was still shell shocked by how fast the event happened. When he finally noticed that he and Akamaru were in two separate cocoons of sand, he said, "What the hell is this?"
"My Sand Coffin." Gaara droned out. "Give up now or I will crush you." To make his point known, the coffin around Akamaru tightened just a bit, making the dog whimper.
"OK! I give up! Just let Akamaru go!" Kiba pleaded, not wanting to see his best friend die in front of him….or at all for that matter.
Mifune nodded to this acceptance as Gaara immediately let the two go. "Winner is Gaara of the Sand!"
Kiba quickly made his way up the stands to stand in front of Naruto. "The hell man, you couldn't have warned me?"
Naruto gave Kiba planned look. "Would you have listened to my warning? After all, I have fought him and won."
Kiba paled at that. He had been wrong, dead wrong. It seemed that Naruto was stronger than he thought and to beat someone as skilled with sand like Gaara? That was nuts! "Right…sorry man. I probably would have just ignored you."
Before Naruto could answer, his match had been called.
Naruto vs Shikamaru/Yoroi/Misumi
"Finally!" Naruto groaned. "Of course I get the last battle." Grumbling as he made his way down, he saw Mifune smirk in his direction just a bit. What? What the samurai expecting some huge battle from him. Whatever, like not much could happen with Shikamaru's lazy ass, could it?
As Shikamaru stood across from Naruto, he tooked to his temporary teammates and sighed. This was such a drag, but he would deal with it. Already his mind was racing on how he would fight Naruto and win. However, the concept of winning was a difficult task to achieve when one knows nothing of how Naruto fights. He would have to wing it.
"Yoroi. Misumi, I need you two to engage him in combat. I need to know what he can do so that I can think up a strategy to win." Shikamaru stated.
The two nodded, already used to taking orders from Kabuto. As soon as Mifune sadi to begin, the two rushed the blond. Said blond rose an eyebrow at their tactics and decided to let them try and beat him. He too wanted to know what they could do and was not disappointed when Misumi wrapped his rubber limbs around him in an attempt to immobilize him. Yoroi then came in and placed a palm on his chest, the affect sucking chakra out of him.
However, Naruto didn't feel it due to him have an insane amount of chakra, something that Yoroi was sweating about. "If that is all you two have, then this battle is already over." Naruto said as he turned into his black smoke form and easily got out of Misumi's grasp.
Shikamaru watched all of this with a calculating look. He noticed the orange glow emitting from Naruto's metal hand. There, he saw a small orange gem, which must have been allowing him to pull of that smoke from of his. Still, as he watched Naruto play with his temporary teammates, he was not able to see much of his fighting style.
"Damn, guess I just need to capture him in my shadow and hope they can take care of the rest….like break that gem." Shikamaru muttered to himself. He waited for the right moment to send it out. He watched their shadows dance along the ground as he thought up a way to capture the tricky blond.
There! He thought as he sent his shadow into the shadows of his teammates to extend his range and reach Naruto. Surprisingly it worked. "Shadow Possession Success."
"Good work." Yoroi replied, a little out of breath from the small fight and Naruto's constant dodging thanks to that strange smoke.
"Yes, now use that drain power you have to weaken him more and then break that gem on his metal hand." Shikamaru replied.
"Sorry, Shikamaru, but you lost." Naruto voice cut him off.
"And how do you figure that Naruto? I have you captured." Shikamaru replied, a little on edge due to the blond's calm look.
"Your jutsu is not a true bloodline jutsu. "Naruto replied. "With the right know how, anyone could learn how to do your jutsu."
Ok, Shikamaru didn't like where this was going. "And you do?"
"Nope!" Naruto chirped, almost making Shikamaru release the jutsu so that he could slap his own face. However, that dark smile appeared on the blond's face, making Shikamaru nervous. "I have something better." With that, the orange glow was back, something that Shikamaru cursed, not thinking that Naruto could use it while paralyzed by his shadow.
In addition to the orange glow, Naruto's eyes went Sharingan, making Yoroi and Musumi sweat a bit. "Reaper's Shadow!" At those words, the indoor arena darkened considerably. The darkness seemed to be converging around the blond for a few seconds before it shot out to his opponents.
When the light returned, Shikamaru opened his eyes to see darkness or shadow surrounding Naruto as he his hood was up and his red Sharingan eyes were the only think he could see of his face. He then turned his head to his temporary teammates to see them writhing in cocoons of shadows. Looking back to himself, he saw that he was unmarred by the shadows that have captured his teammates. Although the odd thing was that he was still in control of his own shadow. He followed it to the cocoons. How did he do that? Somehow, Naruto had redirected his shadow to encase his temporary teammates.
Suddenly, the darkness of Naruto's face broke to reveal not only the red eyes of the Sharingan, but also his unnaturally white teeth. "Well, Shikamaru, it has been a nice battle, but it is over." As he brought his hand in a snapping motion, Shikamaru then saw the figure behind the blond. A giant image of THE Grim Reaper. "Shadow Flame!" With a snap of his fingers, the cocoons encasing Yoroi and Musumi burst in black flames. Thankfully, Shikamaru had enough self-preservation to release his jutsu before it travelled to him. Still, this was something he was not prepare for.
Had Naruto changed that much since he left Konoha to attack to brutally like that. He didn't get to think much on it because of the blade of a scythe was looped around his neck from behind. Eyeing his attacker from the corner of his eye, he saw that it was indeed Naruto, a grim look on his face.
"Do you yield?" Naruto asked.
Shikamaru sighed. He knew he would get no end of flak from Ino and his mother about this, but he would rather not die just yet. "Yeah, I give up."
XXX
After the medic had taken Yoroi and Musumi out of the arena, Mifune demanded everyones attention again. "You have all fought well. Now I must inform you all of one difference that the Chunin Exams here have. From the moment you passed the Great Prison Maze Exam, you were eligible to be Chunin no matter if you lost. However, that is for your Kages to asses. Still, the Final Exam will be in about a month's time. Then, you shall return here where those from around the world will watch you fight you next set of matches. For those that cannot make it, it will be televised."
So there was more? They should have known. Still, it was good to know that others that fought could advance in rank. If Naruto had to guess, that mostly revolved around those team based battles.
"That being said, here are the matches for the next round." Mifune stated as the scoreboard flashed through names. "Samui vs Fu. Kurotsuchi vs Temari. Lee vs Naruto. Sasuke vs Sai. Gaara vs Akatsuchi. Suzumebachi will relieve a bye to the next round. Train hard for the next round, you may leave my village to train anywhere in the world, but remember, be back in one month's time for you battle." Mifine looked at all the contestants before saying "Dismissed."
XXX
The Third Hokage turned off the small TV he had in his office. Their teachers were already on their way to pick them up to take them home or train them some more for the Final Exam. He had been impressed to what he had seen and he was more than willing to promote just a few of them. Hell, he already had a few in mind.
Still, he wished that Naruto was still with Konoha, his power had grown and his battle had been interesting. The clever use of his Real Genjutsu to manipulate Shikamaru's shadow was impressive.
However, his musings where cut short with a knock on the door. "Enter." He said and he was irked to find that Danzo was entering his office. What did that War Hawk want now?
"Danzo."
"Sarutobi…" Danzo replied in a tone that the old Kage knew well. Anger. "When?"
"When what?"
"Cut the crap! When are you going to personally knock down the Tsuchikage's front door to reclaim our weapon!"
Sarutobi narrowed his eyes at Danzo. "Naruto is not a weapon. He is a human being."
"He is nothing but a weapon for this village and you know it! I demand that you reclaim him now! This farce of a civil war can only last so long. SO what if he is Minato's Son! He is our weapon and nothing will change that! TAKE. HIM. BACK!"
"I will not do that. Unlike you, I will not cause a war just to reclaim him. From what I have seen so far, he is happy where he is and had grown powerful."
"Feh, happiness. If you had given him to me what I asked, he would not have emotions and all this could have been avoided!" Danzo raged.
"Regardless, I answer is final Danzo and don't you think you of all people can order me to do anything." Sarutobi replied in a dangerous tone, daring Danzo to defy him.
Danzo seethed in silent rage as his cane was cracked under the pressure of his anger. Finally, after a small glaring contest, he made and way to the door. When he stopped at the doorway, he said, "I have tried to reason you Sarutobi, but you won't see reason. I will have my way."
"Is that a threat?"
"No, it's a promise." Danzo then slammed the door as he left the old Kage to contemplate his next move. He had a very bad feeling about this.
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Aaaaand I am done with this chapter. In the words of Shikamaru, What a drag. Seriously with all the rain we've been getting, it has drained my energy. Now I have to go to work…fucking joy. So sorry if you think the quality for this chapter is a bit rough...i just didn't have the nergy to care.
Also in case you are wondering, yes, Sarutobi and Danzo will eventually end up in a fight…just you wait! Still, that if far off for now.
So…Review please, I need MORE!