All Set! (With a Few Surprises)
Naruto cheered at the wild crowds that awaited him in Konoha. He smiled broadly and pulled his two teammates close to his side. Sakura blushed while Sasuke looked annoyed at the attention. A banner was strung across the street:
WELCOME BACK TEAM SEVEN
"Come on Sasuke, cheer up. We're back in Konoha and a full team once again." Naruto released his hold on his teammates and lead them to the best restaurant in town, Ichiraku's. There sat the other nine ninja of the Konoha Twelve, all of them smiled and waved at the three members of team seven. Ichiraku welcomed his favorite customer back with heaping helping of his latest ramen creation free of charge. Naruto grabbed a pair of chopstick, broke them apart and began to dive into his meal with a shout of "Itadakimasu."
Naruto awoke from his blissful dreams as the first rays of morning began to creep through his window. Naruto debated on whether to get up or try and return to his dream world. He opted for the second option when the phone began to ring. He pushed himself up on the bed and reached over to the infernal device and answered it. "Good morning Naruto. This is your wake up call so… WAKE UP!!" Naruto yelped as he pulled the phone away from his ears.
"Geez, Sakura-chan, do you have be so loud?"
"No, but your awake now aren't you?"
Hai, hai. Thank you Sakura-chan."
"Anytime Naruto. See you at breakfast." Naruto hung up the phone and kicked the covers off the bed. He let out a long yawn and headed towards the bathroom. Just as he was about to step foot into the room he stopped and pulled his foot back. Naruto smiled at his intelligence and bent over to pick up the bar of soap. 'Not this morning.' Naruto smiled as he threw the soap over his shoulder and back towards his bedroom.
Unfortunately, he threw the soap too high and it was hit by the ceiling fan positioned over the bed. The soap struck the blades and bounced off a lamp before it ricocheted back to the blonde. Naruto turned back towards the sound of a lamp breaking just in time to have the soap land right in his mouth. Naruto spit the soap out onto the floor and gagged at the taste of the cleaner. Naruto stalked over to the bar and grabbed it in his hands. The bar slipped from his grip and struck him between the eyes before it landed on the boy's bed. Now furious, Naruto walked to the soap bar, carefully gripped it and threw it out the window. Sadly, the window was closed and the bar sailed threw the glass before striking an unaware Kiba who had just followed Akamaru out of his room's window.
Naruto, not aware of Kiba's misfortune, frowned as he looked at the window and its new hole. 'Tsunade-baa-chan is gonna kill me when she sees this bill.' Naruto shook his head and quickly showered and changed into his orange jumpsuit. He checked the living room and saw that Kiba and Akamaru had already left. He left his hotel room and entered the hall. He started to head for the stairs when he noticed one of the doors in the hall was left open. He recognized it as Tenten and Hinata's room. He carefully walked towards the open room and listened for any sound inside.
Naruto could here a soft hum in the air, a gentle rhythmic sound that seemed to fill his surroundings. He pressed his back to the wall and peaked his head around the corner to see inside. His breathe caught in his throat as he saw Hinata in the middle of the room with all the furniture moved to one side. She wore a simple white tee and black sweats and her hitai-ite strapped around her eyes. She hummed softly and matched her breathes with that steady sound. Slowly she began to move in graceful and smooth, but strong and determined movements. Naruto watched as she effortlessly glided through her routine.
"She has trained hard these past weeks." Naruto's skin crawled and he spun around quickly to see Shino behind him watching his teammate. "Ever since she was defeated by Neji she has practiced and trained hard to gain acceptance from her family and recognition from the one she cares most for." Naruto raised his eyebrow in confusion, not quite understanding Shino's message. 'I can understand her wanting the acceptance of her family, but who does she want recognition from?'
Naruto looked back into the room as the sound of her humming reached a crescendo. She abruptly stopped, her right leg extended forward as she kneeled with her left, her arms resting by her side. Hinata brought her right arm up to the back of her head and began to undo the small knot holding the hitai-ite on. Naruto realized he needed to move quickly and hastily turned around before taking off. Sadly, he only got about 3 inches as his face collided with the bucket of ice that Tenten carried. Naruto fell backwards and his eyes began to spin. Tenten set the bucket of ice down and rushed to the blonde. From the room came Hinata, a look of shock on her face at the blonde knocked semi-unconscious at her doorstep.
"What happened Tenten-chan?" Hinata asked as she quickly examined Naruto before bending down by his side. Naruto's eyes refocused and he sat up, his face near Hinata's.
"I don't have a clue Hinata-chan. I came back up the stairs lugging this bucket of ice," she taps the bucket with her foot, "and I find him looking into our room." Tenten looks down at Naruto, a small hint of anger in her eyes and voice.
"Shino was here too and he said Hinata had been training hard as we watched her do that dance thing."
"The only person I saw here was you Naruto."
"But he was here! I swear it….uh, Hinata?" 'He…he was watching me….?' Hinata's body shook slightly and her eyes began to roll into the back of her head as her mind lost all focus. As she began to fall back Naruto caught her and cradled her head in his arms. "Why does this always happen? I should get Tsunade-baa-chan to check her out. If she did this in a mission it would be terrible. Hinata, hey, Hinata, wake up."
Tenten just shook her head and muttered "baka" under her breath. After several minutes Hinata came back to the world of the living. Her eyes cracked open and she saw Naruto holding her in his arms. "Welcome back" said Naruto, that goofy smile on his face. This sent the poor girl back to her former unconscious state to a shocked Naruto. Tenten had had enough and shooed the blonde away.
"Don't worry Naruto," said Tenten "She'll be fine in a bit. We will meet you downstairs for breakfast in a while, okay?" Naruto checked on Hinata one last time before nodding and passed the girl to Tenten. Naruto made his way towards the stairs but looked back to see Tenten as she carried the out of it Hinata into the room before shutting the door. Naruto walked down the stairs and looked towards the hotels dining area. He saw the rest of the ninja from Konoha gathered in the room and proceeded to make his way to meet up with them. Chouji, Shikamaru, and Ino sat at a booth while Sakura, Lee, and Neji sat at a large table with room for three others. Naruto saw Shino over by the kitchen window placing an order.
Naruto went and sat down next to Sakura who was engaged in a small debate with Lee over the dos and don'ts of spandex. "Good morning Sakura-chan, Neji, Lee." Naruto nodded at the two other boys and looked down at the food on their plates. "Hey Neji, what is that?"
"I am not exactly sure. It is some food from one of the Western countries. I think I heard them called 'Tacos' or some such".
"Breakfast tacos to be exact, or taquitos, whichever catches your fancy." Remington and Randall sat down at the table with the Konoha ninja. They each had a plate piled high with the food and looked eager to dig in. "They set up a buffet like system so you can make your own." Randall nodded his greetings before digging into his meal. "Hey no fair, you're cheating!" Remington glared at his brother quickly before digging into his own plate of food. Naruto watched in horrid fascination as the piles on their plates quickly began to shrink. 'This must be how people feel when they watch me eat ramen,' thought Naruto.
Naruto decided to try some of the odd food before he completely discredited it. He noticed as he stood up that all the Konoha nin had remnants of similar items on their plates (except Shino, who had sat by himself at a table in the corner). Naruto walked over to the buffet line and grabbed a plate. He saw a sign labeling the strange flat bread item as a 'Tortilla' and a large tray of scrambled eggs. He saw some shredded cheese called 'American', whatever that is, and several small trays of a variety of vegetables.
Naruto grabbed a couple of tortillas, placed some eggs in the middle, and added a few vegetable and a medium spiced 'salsa' before returning to his seat. As he neared the table he heard plates rattle and utensils fall to the floor as Remington stood from his chair followed a fraction behind by Lee as they glared at each other.
Naruto took his seat and asked "What's up with them?"
"They are arguing over which is better, Lee's 'Curry of Life' or Remington's 'Tacos of Power.' Personally, I think they are both idiots." Randall shook his head as he finished his sentence and wished his brother would just let it go.
Remington and Lee continued their little debate for several minutes, though debate may not be the right word. Unless a debate consists of "Tacos of Power" and "Curry of Life," then yes it was a debate, otherwise no, it wasn't.
The argument was settled as Randall smacked his brother on the head and pointed towards the empty plate in front of him. "Done." A smile graced Randall's face when his brother realized that he had been distracted.
"Damn. Okay, you won this time." Remington sighed and sat back down, ashamed that Lee had distracted him and now his brother had won the bet. Naruto looked at the two brothers and shrugged his shoulders before taking a bite of the taquito. 'It's no cup o' Ramen, but it's not bad.'
"This isn't bad. Where does this come from again?" asked Naruto before he took another bite.
"It comes from our home land. It has been awhile since we have had some so we are enjoying it while we can." Randall replied as he considered getting another plate or two.
"Where is that exactly? I do not think you ever really said," inquired Sakura, looking at the two ramen vendors. Randall coughed and Remington paused a second before eating his last taquito.
"The place…you know…*cough* that we are…. from. So, are you excited about the tournament Naruto?" Randall answered, trying to get them to switch topics. Sakura shrugged her shoulders and let it go for now, but was determined to figure out the answer later.
"You bet. I can't wait to show off my new moves and skills." Naruto finished his breakfast but still felt slightly hungry. "Well," said Naruto as he pushed his chair away from the table, "I'm gonna go for a walk and stretch. I'll see you guys at the tournament in while. See ya." Naruto walked away from the table, waved at all his friends and left the dining room. As he walked towards the hotel exit he saw Hinata and Tenten walking down the stairs. He changed his course to meet the two.
"Hey Hinata. Sorry about earlier. You sure you are okay?" Naruto rubbed the back of his neck, a smile of embarrassment on his whiskered face.
"I-I am f-fine Naruto-kun." 'He was worried? Oh, Naruto-kun…' Hinata's face flushed only slightly as she bowed to the blonde. Naruto raised an eyebrow unsure as to why she was bowing to him.
"Well, if you are sure. I'm going out for a walk. I'll see you at the tournament, okay?"
Tenten nodded her agreement and moved towards the dining room as Randall and Remington exited. Naruto turned to join the two vendors in order to convince them to make at least one bowl of ramen for him when he heard a soft sound behind him. He couldn't make it out so he turned around to see what it was. Hinata faced the ground, her fingers touching and pressing lightly.
"What? Did you say something Hinata?"
"A-ano…could I…come with…never mind." She sulked and proceeded to follow Tenten until Naruto called out to her.
"You want to come with Hinata? I'm just gonna walk around a bit, but you are welcome to join." Hinata turned around to look at her beloved and smiled. She nodded her head and moved towards the blonde boy and they walked to the exit, following Randall and Remington. Randall and Remington made their way back to the ramen shack, Hinata and Naruto not far behind when Naruto and Hinata stopped their pace. They spotted an irate Kiba growling and mumbling as he made his way towards the hotel.
Hinata waved her hand at her teammate and, at the sight of her wave, Kiba made his way towards the two. Kiba rubbed his head and grumbled as he closed the distance between his friends. Hinata looked a little worried about her teammate. "Kiba-kun, are you okay?"
"Yeah, just pissed off is all."
"What happened?" Hinata stepped next to her teammate and inspected his head to make sure he was not injured.
"You won't believe it! I was just going out the window about to take Akamaru out for our morning walk and just as I am about to ready for landing on the tree I get hit by a bar of soap. A BAR OF SOAP!" Kiba yelled, his arms out wide, anger in his voice. "Who throws a bar of soap? If I find the joker who did it I will throttle him!"
Naruto laughed nervously as he scratched the back of his head. "Yeah, who would throw a bar of soap through a window? I mean that would be totally reckless and I would never do anything like that. Heh heh heh," Naruto looked at Kiba and quickly turned back towards the ramen shack and took off at a fast walk before Kiba realized who threw the soap.
Hinata looked back and forth between her love and her teammate before moving after Naruto. Kiba looked at Naruto quizzically and left for the hotel to catch breakfast. Hinata caught up to Naruto and fell in step behind him. The two made their way to the ramen shack but could find no sign of the two brothers. From behind the wall where Naruto had seen Randall enter previously incoherent shouting could be heard. The two leaned closer and head a large racket, the sound of dishes breaking, and several choice words thrown about.
Suddenly the door the back area flew open and Randall stepped outside. He quickly slammed the door shut and looked at his two new friends. He held his arm and limped as he moved towards the Konoha kids. He put on a smile and sat in a chair where he waved the two to join him. After Naruto and Hinata had sat down he took a deep breathe and looked to his visitors. "So….what brings you two out this way? Shouldn't you be preparing for the tournament?" Randall looked at Naruto as he asked this question.
"I am, but I need a bowl of ramen first. I can't start the day without my ramen fix." Naruto smiled at Randall who shook his head and got back up from his seat. He limped his way over to the shack and whipped up a quick meal of ramen for the boy. He brought the meal back to the table with a pair of chopsticks and a napkin. Naruto grabbed the chopsticks, broke them apart and dug in after saying his thanks.
Hinata watched the blonde dive into his meal and realized she was hungry. It was late morning but she had yet to eat anything. Hinata's face turned bright crimson as a gurgle echoed from her stomach that made Naruto and Randall look at the embarrassed lass and laughed. Hinata looked down at her lap, her hands pressed firmly there. "I'm sorry," she said, her embarrassment evident in her voice.
"It seems to me that you are a little bit hungry." Randall chuckled a bit then winced as his arm pained him again. He mentally shook it off and resumed his conversation. "Is there anything you would like? I could make you some Miso Soup and rice if you would like." Hinata nodded her head and Randall returned to the kitchen to prepare her food.
Hinata watched as Naruto devoured his meal with a little too much enthusiasm. Most people are disturbed by the speed the blonde eats his most favorite of meals but Hinata simply enjoyed any time that she can watch her favorite ninja. Naruto inhaled a few too many noodles at once and began to choke slightly. He hit his chest several times while Hinata looked worried before he took a large gulp and swallowed the food. He let out a quick sigh then returned immediately back to his meal. Hinata raised her fist in front of her mouth and giggled at the boy's action.
Randall returned from the kitchen with two bowls, one in each hand. He placed the bowl of Miso soup in front of Hinata and the bowl of steamed white rice next to it. Hinata lowered her head and thanked Randall for the food. Randall nodded his head to the girl before he excused himself. "I should check on my brother. He might not have calmed it down yet." Randall disappeared behind the not so hidden compartment again followed by shrieks, more crashing, and more choice words.
Naruto, his meal finished, looked at Hinata and shrugged his shoulders. Naruto sat back in his chair, stomach content now that his ramen needs had been met. Naruto waited patiently as Hinata ate her meal. He used this time of peace to think about the upcoming tournament. He had not felt this nervous since the first day of the chuunin exams. Naruto was pulled from his thoughts as a strange sound echoed from Hinata's direction. As he looked at the shy girl she blushed and set her empty soup bowl back down. Naruto merely laughed as he realized the noise he heard was her accidentally slurping the last bit of her soup.
Naruto stood up from the table and grabbed the dishes and placed them on the counter. Hinata got up from her seat and joined the blonde and together they began their walk to the stadium. Neither of the two spoke as they made their way, each lost in their own thoughts. As the two passed the hotel they caught sight of Shino waiting by the entrance and the two paused their walk. Shino joined his two friends and with a nod of their heads continued on.
The group passed by the shop where they had bought their suits and again stopped as Sakura and Ino came out, each with a bag, and joined the three. In a barbeque restaurant across the street Chouji and Shikamaru spotted the group and made their way to the exit. The group moved out again, Chouji and Shikamaru trailing a bit behind as Chouji devoured a bag of chips. The group paused when they heard a series of barks echo from behind them and they waited for Kiba and Akamaru's arrival. The group made their way to the stadium which was now in sight. People stood in long lines along the outside of the arena waiting to get to their seats or to get to the contest area. The group saw Neji leaning on a tree outside the contest entrance and made their way to him. Neji looked up and nodded at the other Konoha nin.
"Tenten and Lee are already inside." Neji got up from the tree and walked in front of Naruto and shocked everyone when he extended his hand to the blonde. "Good luck, dobe." Neji smirked as the blonde took his hand in a firm grip.
"Thanks, Neji-teme. I'll see you in the stands." The two released their grip and broke apart, the group separated into participants and observers. Shino, Kiba, and Chouji made their way into the arena, Naruto not far behind when he stopped and turned back around. He walked over to Sakura and Hinata and took their hands in his. 'You'll be cheering for me, right?" Both replied they would and he left them and made his way to the contest entrance. Naruto got in line behind a tall dark-skinned man and waited as the line slowly moved forward every few seconds. The line progressed slowly, but efficiently, with no signs of trouble. As the line progressed there was little talking amongst the participants, their attention on the future in their mind.
Naruto finally reached the end of the line and approached the man at the booth. The man at the booth took down Narutos name, took a quick photo and handed Naruto a slip of paper with the number eight on it. Naruto followed the other contestants out a doorway and into the light of the arena. The arena was huge. It was a large circle nearly two hundred meters in diameter. In the giant circle sat eight squares each twenty meters in length and width. The squares where placed ten meters apart from each other in a three by three pattern with the middle section barren.
Naruto turned his attention from the inner part of the stadium to its stands. He could see the stadium filled with people but could not spot his friends in the crowd. Naruto stumbled forward as a large portly man pushed him forward. Naruto scowled but continued on. Security for the tournament guided the contests towards their correct platform. As Naruto walked to arena eight he caught sight of some of his friends in their squares already. He smiled when he saw Lee and Tenten in the same square together. He moved to the square with a sign proclaiming it as arena eight and he walked up onto the concrete platform. He was surrounded by many people, men, women, some old, some young, but all looking determined. Naruto scanned the crowd quickly and counted about thirty seven people in his square.
Naruto's attention was shifted to the barren space in the middle of the eight platforms and saw Tazuna with a microphone in his hands. A loud squeal echoed from the PA system set up around the arena. "Greetings ladies and gentlemen. I am Tazuna, current member of the council and your announcer for the evening. I would like to thank everyone, audience members and participants, for coming and taking part in this event. Today we will be having a preliminary match to bring our large number of contestants to a more manageable level."
Tazuna moved his gaze from the audience to the contest participants. "The rules for your preliminary match are simple. When I give the word each square will begin to fight. The style is that of a free-for-all with the last two standing or conscious fighters being the winner for the square. If you land outside of your ring then you are out. The last rule is no weapons aloud. Everyone got that?" He quickly glanced around the arena then smiled. "Good, FIGHT!"
The command was so quick and sudden that many people were left stunned at the proclamation. These people were easy pickings for those that moved into action immediately. In the first ten seconds at least twenty contestants were forced out of the arena or forced into blissful unconsciousness. Naruto, who was one of the shocked, received a back hand from a large man in front of him and sent flying backwards towards the edge of his arena. He reached out and grabbed hold of a mans elbow as the man cocked his arm back to deliver another punch to the person he had picked as his target. Suddenly he was thrown out of the arena while Naruto was moving to the center to take revenge on the man that hit him.
Naruto landed behind the man and delivered a brutal hit to the man's left kidney that caused him to yell out and stumble to the ground. The man threw an arm in a sweeping motion towards his assailant but hit only air as Naruto leapt above the man's head and faced him. Naruto smirked before he kneed the man on the chin. The man's head flew backwards and he landed hard on the concrete floor but did not rise back up. Naruto was about to enjoy his victory when he narrowly dodged a kick to his head but could not avoid the leg sweep from a second adversary that sent the ninja backwards and his head collided with the floor roughly. Naruto gritted his teeth and rolled to the right and avoided having his head stomped and received a sharp kick to his leg. Naruto continued to roll until he faced the floor then he pushed off with his arms and landed in a crouched position. He faced his targets and saw them focused on him.
Naruto leapt at the brown haired girl on the left but was thrown off course when he collided with a thrown body in mid air. The body landed on Naruto and had him pinned down for a second as he pushed the unconscious body off of him. The two opponents ran towards the blonde, knocking any and all that got in their way out of it. Naruto had finally had enough of this and decided to make the odds more fair. aruto then threw that thought out of his mind and decided to win this thing. Naruto quickly formed his most used set of hand seals and shouted for all to hear "Shadow Clone Technique!" Suddenly platform eight was filled with Narutos who unleashed havoc. They dragged people out of the arena, double or triple teamed others while his main focus was to gain revenge on the two that decided to team up against him.
Naruto personally performed the Uzumaki Combo on them each before tossing their bodies unceremoniously out of the arena. When the carnage was over all that remained was Naruto in the middle with a smile on his face, his arms crossed over his chest in a cocky pose. Naruto looked at the other square to see how the fights were going but could not see into two of the arenas due to the smoke in the air and a bright light coming from another.
As Naruto waited he saw Shino kick an opponent out of the ring which left him and one other as the last two people in the ring. Naruto looked and saw Lee and Tenten back to back, also the only ones standing. As the dust in the smoky arena fell Naruto saw Kiba and Kiba and some girl standing and staring at each other. Naruto could not see the last four arenas so he had to wait for them to finish. As Naruto walked around his platform he saw a body twitch and moved to assist the man since he would be the second person to make it through.
Naruto pulled the man up but was surprised when he fell right back down. A loud grunt of pain was heard from underneath the man so Naruto pulled him up again but kept pulling until the man fell forward off of another man. This man was skinny and frail looking. His clothes were dirty and his hair was messed in all directions. He wore a dirt brown shirt that had tears and rips all along it and dark green pants with holes in the knees. The man wore shoes with a hole for his big toe on the left and his last two toes on the right were exposed as well. "What the hell happened?" asked the man.
"You won," stated Naruto simply and helped the man to his feet. Naruto wiped his hands on his pants after letting go of the man before scanning the arena again. The cheers from the crowd had grown louder and finally they ended with a loud cheer and several stood and clapped. With another squeal the PA came back on and Tazuna cleared his throat in the mike. "Ladies and gentleman, we have our victors. In the first square Chouji Akimichi and Tsurichiro Hanabishi. In square two: Kazuama Shingami and Hyouuryuusha. In the third square: Bob and Jin. In the fourth square Kiba and Akamaru Inuzuka and NamiYue. In the fifth square: Shino Aburame and Hiro Tsubara. In the sixth square: Rock Lee and Tenten. In the seventh square: Paco Hoto and Sasuke Ryoko. And finally, in square eight: Naruto Uzumake and Kanaho Tenshi."
A loud cheer and applause played across the great arena and the winning participants smiled and waved, well except Shino who doesn't smile or wave. Tazuna let the applause continue for several minutes before getting them to quiet down and continued to speak. "I would like the once again thank all who participated. We now have our 16 finalists. Tomorrow morning we shall begin the semi-semi-finals. I hope you will join us all again. Thank you, and good afternoon." Tazuna bowed and the crowd exploded again. The sixteen finalists left there platforms and headed for the nearest exit.
Please review, because if you don't I may keep righting forever or I may stop. Who knows? Criticism helps people. Looking forward to you all reading.