An Extra Edge
Welcome back to An Extra Edge. The preliminaries are about to begin, with Sasuke Uchiha vs Yorai Akado. Who will win? Who will lose? Will I start including omakes at the end of each chapter. Enjoy the chapter.
Legal Stuff: I don't own Naruto or any of its characters. Just this fic and my ocs.
Yorai ran at Sasuke with his hand poised to strike, but instead grabbed Sasuke's head.
Sasuke started feeling his strength leave him the moment Yorai grabbed him. "What the hell are you doing?"
"So you noticed," Yorai said. "I'm draining your chakra."
Sasuke quickly broke Yorai's hold and put some distance between the two. "Damn it! Without any chakra I can't use my Sharingan or my jutsu!" he thought angrily as Yorai pressed the attack, managing to suck out more of Sasuke's chakra. "Gotta think! What can I do?" he thought before having an epiphany.
"It's over!" Yorai exclaimed before Sasuke kicked him into the air and appeared behind him. "What the?"
"Lions Barrage!" Sasuke exclaimed, pulling Yorai toward the floor and striking him three times before axe kicking him in the chest, knocking him hard to the floor.
Hayate ran over and checked on Yorai, finding him unconscious. "The winner is Sasuke Uchiha," he said as he stood.
"Way to go, Sasuke!" Naruto said as Sasuke joined them on the balcony.
Kakashi leaned close to Sasuke. "We need to seal that curse mark. Come with me," he whispered.
Sasuke nodded and left with Kakashi as the next match up was being chosen, soon stopping.
Fu vs Shino Aburame.
"Alright! I get to fight early!" Fu said happily, jumping down to the arena floor, soon joined by Shino.
"You can't win. That much I can assure you," Shino said.
"Don't talk like you've already won," Fu said.
"Don't underestimate me," Shino said.
"Who said I was?" Fu asked. "I never underestimate my opponents. Cause then I wouldn't be able to get a lot of fun out of my opponent."
"Begin!" Hayate said.
Fu ran at Shino and threw a punch, which Shino dodged before knocking him back. "Good. I would have been very disappointed if you'd been easily beaten," he said before jumping into the air and throwing several shuriken, which Shino dodged, before a second volley of shuriken drove him near the first volley. "Now!" Fu said, making a one handed hand sign, causing the shuriken Shino was near to explode with the force of paper bombs, throwing Shino back, but he landed on his feet.
"What was that?" Sakura asked.
"That's Fu's specialty," Lan Fan said from next to Naruto and Sakura.
"His specialty?" Naruto asked.
"Fu is a demolitions expert," Lan Fan said. "He invented a special seal that makes anything it's applied to as explosive as a paper bomb. All of his shuriken are marked with this seal, and can be detonated remotely with a single hand sign. That makes him a very dangerous opponent."
"Pretty impressive jutsu," Sakura said, looking at the fight again.
Fu used his explosive shuriken seemingly at random, until Shino got him between himself and his bugs.
"I told you that you can't win," Shino said.
Fu sighed. "Ling's going to yell at me again for not being prepared. What can I say? Planning every little insignificant detail just isn't my style. I prefer to stay flexible. But this time around, I went out of style and planned something," he said as he made his hand sign and smirked. "Your bugs won't do you any good now, since you're in range," he said, making Shino gasp before an explosion went off behind him, throwing him to the ground, hard.
"What did you do?" Shino asked, unable to move.
"Remember that punch I threw earlier when we started?" Fu asked. "I launched a senbon from the launcher hidden in my sleeve when you dodged, and then all I had to do was maneuver you near it."
"The winner is Fu," Hayate said.
"Awesome! I get to fight again!" Fu said, returning to his team as Shino was carried away by the medics.
"Cool jutsu!" Naruto said once Fu reached them.
"Thank you kindly," Fu said as the screen started selecting the next fighters, soon stopping.
Misumi Tsurugi vs Kankuro
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Meanwhile, Kakashi was preparing a seal for Sasuke's curse mark. "Brace yourself, Sasuke. This is gonna hurt, a lot," he said before running through some hand signs and putting his hand over the curse mark. "Curse Sealing!" he said, starting the process.
Sasuke screamed in pain as the marks Kakashi had drawn began moving onto the seal and put themselves in place.
"That seal is dependent on your will, Sasuke," Kakashi said as Sasuke breathed heavily. "If your will falters, the curse mark will be unleashed."
Sasuke nodded before passing out.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Kankuro and Misumi stood across from each other.
"Begin!" Hayate said.
Kankuro dropped the bandaged item from his back as before blocking a strike from Misumi, who wrapped himself around Kankuro.
"What the hell?" Kankuro asked.
"I can dislocate all my joints and then use my chakra to control my body to bend and stretch in normally impossible ways," Misumi explained. "Now surrender, or I snap your neck."
Kankuro grinned. "I dare you to do it."
"Suit yourself," Misumi said, applying pressure and hearing a loud snapping sound. "Idiot," he muttered before Kankuro's face started cracking. "What the?" he asked before four arms burst from Kankuro's body and wrapped around Misumi and his head turned around, revealing that it was in fact, artificial. "A puppet?"
"Got that right," Kankuro said as he unwrapped himself from the bandages on the floor. "Meet my friend Crow," he said before using Crow to break every bone in Misumi's body below his neck.
"The winner is Kankuro," Hayate said as Kankuro retrieved his puppet and returned to the balcony.
"Isn't two against one kind of unfair?" Naruto asked.
"The puppet is a nonliving tool, akin to a kunai," Ling said.
"Oh," Naruto said simply as the next line up was chosen.
Sakura Haruno vs Ino Yamanaka
Sakura gasped and started sweating a little.
"Go get her, Sakura-chan," Naruto said, putting a hand on her shoulder. "You can do it. I believe in you."
Sakura smiled. "Thanks, Naruto," she said before going down to the arena with Ino.
"So we end up fighting each other, Billboard Brow," Ino said, smirking.
"Yeah. Try to keep up, Ino Pig," Sakura said, returning the smirk.
"Begin!" Hayate said.
Sakura and Ino ran at each other, exchanging blows for a bit before putting distance between each other.
"How did you get this good, Billboard Brow?" Ino asked.
"By working hard, Ino Pig," Sakura said, making Ino frown and pull out a kunai before cutting off her long ponytail and throwing it in front of her.
"Let's end this, Billboard Brow!" Ino snarled before making a familiar hand sign. "Mind Transfer Jutsu!" she said, falling to her knees unconscious as Sakura dodged, only to find herself trapped by Ino's chakra enhanced hair. "Got ya," she said as she revealed that the jutsu had been faked before turning to Sakura and making the hand sign again. "Mind Transfer Jutsu!" she said again, successfully taking control of Sakura's body.
"What the hell are you doing in here?" Inner Sakura yelled at Ino within Sakura's mind.
"What the hell are you?" Ino asked as Sakura appeared.
"This, Ino, is my inner self. Sort of a split personality. She's annoying at times, but she's helpful as well."
"Get the hell out of our body, Ino Pig!" Inner Sakura yelled, punching the hell out of Ino, who quickly released her jutsu.
"Now then, it's time to finish this," Sakura said, charging at Ino into another exchange of blows that lasted nearly an hour before they stood across from each other, panting.
"The next blow decides this," Sakura said.
"Yeah, no doubt about that," Ino said before they charged again and hit each other in the face at the same time.
Sakura managed to struggle to her feet, while Ino had been knocked out.
"The winner is Sakura Haruno," Hayate said.
"Alright! You go, Sakura-chan!" Naruto cheered, making Sakura smile at him.
"Such a sweet knucklehead," Sakura thought as she returned to the balcony and stood next to him.
"That was quite the fight, Sakura," Ling said.
"Thanks, Ling," Sakura said as Ino had been returned to her teammates, soon waking up.
"Who won?" Ino asked as she stood.
"I won, Ino Pig!" Sakura said loudly.
"Nice work, Billboard Brow," Ino muttered as the fifth match up was chosen.
Temari vs Tenten
"Let's do it," Tenten said, jumping down to the ring, Temari quickly joining her.
"Begin!" Hayate said.
Tenten jumped back and threw several shuriken, which failed to hit Temari, making her gasp.
"What was that?" Temari asked.
Tenten pulled out a scroll and unfurled it, summoning a number of weapons from within and throwing them at Temari, who deflected them. "That can't be!" she said as Temari opened her huge fan a bit, revealing a purple circle.
"Two more chances to win," Temari said.
Tenten opened another scroll and summoned more weapons to throw at Temari, who once again deflected them, revealing another circle on her fan.
"Last chance," Temari said.
Tenten set two scrolls on the ground beside her, one on each side. "I was hoping to save this for the finals," she said before making a hand sign, making a large cloud of smoke appear before two smoke dragons rose in a circle that she jumped up into, the smoke clearing to show her now open scrolls, which she unloaded a lot of weapons from, which were once again deflected. "Try this!" she said, using wires to lift the weapons for a second attack, but they were deflected once more before Temari opened her fan all the way, revealing a third circle.
"Now, I win," Temari said before lifting her fan. "Wind Scythe Jutsu!" she said kicking up a whirlwind that kept Tenten in the air and slashed at her, dissipating after about a minute, leaving Tenten to fall onto Temari's fan, on her waist, out cold.
"The winner is Temari," Hayate said as the medics got Tenten off Temari's fan and carried her away, quickly clearing away her weapons as well.
"That was boring," Temari said as she returned to the balcony as the sixth line up was being chosen.
Lan Fan vs Shikamaru Nara
"What a drag," Shikamaru said as he headed to the arena floor, standing across from Lan Fan. "I really hate fighting women."
"You a sexist or something?" Lan Fan asked. "Cause I can't stand sexists."
"No, it just ain't classy for a guy to clobber a girl," Shikamaru said.
"Don't worry then, I'll be the one doing the clobbering," Lan Fan said.
"Begin!" Hayate said.
Shikamaru quickly ran through some hand signs. "Shadow Possession Jutsu!" he said, his shadow extending toward Lan Fan.
"I don't think so!" Lan Fan said, jumping into the air away from the shadow and landing on the statue fingertip. "I'm not too keen on getting caught in that jutsu," she said, pulling out a scroll and opening it, a large shuriken coming out of it in a puff of smoke. "Try this on for size," she said, throwing the shuriken at Shikamaru.
"Damn!" Shikamaru thought as he dodged the shuriken, which embedded itself in the floor much further than her throwing strength should have allowed. "What the hell?" he thought as she unsealed another shuriken and threw it at him, this one managing to nick his cheek. "That shuriken numbed my cheek. I see. She's using lightning chakra to increase the cutting power of her shuriken through intense vibrations, which numbs the target through electricity as well. This gonna be tough," he thought as he ran through more hand signs. "Ninja Art: Shadow Merge!" he said, merging with the shadows to buy time. "This jutsu will only last for five minutes at best. I've gotta come up with a strategy by then," he thought as he put his fingers together to form a circle, his thumbs forming the top of the circle as he considered every detail. "Alright, she seems to attack primarily from a distance with large shuriken. Shuriken that large cause a lot of damage, but given their size, are easy to see coming soon enough to dodge. The big problem is that she carries a large number of them in scrolls, and can imbue them with lightning chakra to greatly increase their cutting power. This is like facing an opponent in Shogi with only a King, a couple of Rooks, and some Pawns, while she's got all of her pieces. Alright, let's see. I've got a smoke bomb, 20 shuriken, a couple of kunai, and a flash bomb. It's risky, but if I do this right, I'll be able to beat her." he thought, putting together his plan.
"Where are you, shadow boy?" Lan Fan asked in a mocking tone, spinning her next shuriken as she looked for her mark, seeing him emerge from the shadows. "There you are!" she said, throwing her shuriken at him.
"Here goes," Shikamaru said, throwing down the smoke bomb as he dodged the shuriken.
"Hiding won't save you from me, shadow boy," Lan Fan said as she prepared another shuriken, but gasped slightly as she noticed a shuriken flying at her head and dodged it, though it cut off a strand of her hair. "Using the smoke as cover for your shuriken. Not bad, shadow boy," she said as she dodged another shuriken, sticking to the ceiling with her chakra.
Shikamaru threw three more shuriken at Lan Fan before the smoke cleared, as he expected, she dodged them all, moving closer to the floor as she threw another shuriken at his silhouette in the clearing smoke, which Shikamaru dodged, throwing a kunai and another shuriken, both of which she dodged as she readied another shuriken. "So far so good," he thought, dodging several more shuriken.
"How long do you plan to dance around?" Lan Fan asked, dodging four more shuriken that got her nearer the statue.
Shikamaru threw his last kunai at her, missing before she threw down a smoke bomb, soon jumping out of it and throwing another shuriken. Shikamaru gritted his teeth as he dodged, throwing eight more shuriken at her, leaving him with two.
"So pathetic," Lan Fan said, pulling out the shuriken on her back.
"Gotta make this count!" Shikamaru thought as he threw one of his last shuriken, missing Lan Fan completely.
"Your aim is slipping," Lan Fan said.
"Who said I was aiming at you?" Shikamaru asked as a bright flash of light went off behind Lan Fan, greatly extending their shadows as Shikamaru quickly ran through hand signs. "Shadow Possession Jutsu!" he said, extending his shadow and connecting it with Lan Fan's, making her gasp as the light faded. "Shadow Possession complete."
"How did you do that?" Lan Fan asked.
"Remember that kunai I threw earlier, the second one?" Shikamaru asked. "It had a flash bomb tied to it. That last shuriken was aimed at the wire holding it to the kunai, and made it go off, allowing me to catch you in my jutsu."
"Not bad, shadow boy," Lan Fan said. "So what now?"
Shikamaru smirked as he forced her to put her shuriken away before pulling his final shuriken out. "Now, checkmate." He smirked as the shuriken flew toward her, embedding itself in her throat. His smirk became a look of surprise as water flowed from the wound instead of blood before Lan Fan turned into water and fell apart. "A water clone!" he gasped as Lan Fan burst from the ground to his right and threw a shuriken at him. The next thing Shikamaru saw was blood flying from the new gash on his chest.
Ino's eyes widened at the sight. "SHIKAMARRRUUUUUUUU!" she screamed as he fell onto his back, completely paralyzed as Lan Fan approached him, leisurely twirling a kunai on her finger as she regarded him with a wide, sadistic grin.
"Yeah. Checkmate for me," she said as she prepared to finish him off, only for Hayate to grab the arm holding the kunai. "What are you doing?"
"It's over. You win," Hayate said, letting go of her as Ino and Choji jumped down to the arena and ran over to Shikamaru as the medics arrived.
"Oh no! He's going into shock! We need to get him to surgery!" one of the medics said as Shikamaru was loaded onto a stretcher and rushed out.
Ino glared at Lan Fan, a look of pure rage on her face as tears appeared on the corners of her eyes. "What did you do? There was more to that shuriken than it looked!"
Lan Fan's grin widened. "You're right. I added my lightning chakra to paralyze him. If the blood loss doesn't kill him, I highly doubt he'll be able to continue his shinobi career."
Ino's eyes widened at Lan Fan's nerve. She was treating Shikamaru's condition like it was something that didn't matter to anyone, and the carefree way she said it drove her over the edge. "YOU BITCH!" she screamed as she threw a kunai at her, which was easily deflected by Lan Fan's thrown kunai.
"Temper temper. Getting angry isn't going to help poor shadow boy," Lan Fan said in that mocking tone as she rejoined her teammates on the balcony as the jonin surrounded Ino.
"It's alright," Ling, Fu, and Lan Fan's jonin instructor, an old woman who looked like she had seen a lot of battle in her time said. "Her anger is quite understandable. We won't hold her attack on Lan Fan against her."
"Are you sure you want to do that, Granny May?" Ling asked as the jonin let Ino go.
"Yes, Ling, I'm sure," May said.
"Thank you for that," Sarutobi said as the floor was cleared for the next fight, which was quickly chosen.
Naruto Uzumaki vs Kiba Inuzuka.
Naruto grinned. "Yeah! It's here! It's here at last!" he said happily, about to jump down to the arena, though Sakura grabbing his wrist stopped him. "What is it, Sakura-chan?"
"The Inuzuka clan are famous fo their use of ninja dogs," Sakura said loud enough only for him to hear. "Be careful about that dog of his."
Naruto nodded. "I will."
Sakura leaned next to him to whisper in his ear. "And please, whatever you do, don't use the Nine Tails' power. I don't like how it makes you act."
Naruto nodded again. "I won't. I promise," he whispered back.
Sakura nodded and let go of his wrist, letting him jump down to the arena, where Kiba and Akamaru were waiting.
"This won't take long. You were always the dead last," Kiba said, Akamaru yipping in agreement.
"That was then, and this is now," Naruto said, drawing the Kubikiri Hocho.
"Let's see how good he is with that sword," Ling said.
"Why do you care?" Sakura asked, looking at Ling.
"The Kubikiri Hocho is the rightful property of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist. It has no place in the hands of a leaf shinobi," Ling said.
"Well I saw Zabuza give Naruto that sword in his dieing moments," Sakura said.
"Zabuza Momochi was a rouge ninja. As such, he was not recognized as one of the Seven Swordsmen anymore," Ling said. "Unless the sword has chosen Naruto as its master, I will be trying to take it from him."
"What do you mean the sword might have chosen him?" Sakura asked. "It's just a sword. It's not like it's alive."
"The swords of the Seven Swordsmen are mostly sentient," Ling said, a rattling sound briefly being heard around him. "Have you ever heard of Kisame Hoshigaki?"
"Yeah. He's one of the Seven Swordsmen," Sakura said.
"Was," Ling corrected. "He went rouge several years ago. He wields the blade known as Shark Skin. That blade is sentient, and chooses its own master. And once it has made its choice, none but its chosen master can wield it. Because Shark Skin won't allow anyone other than its master to wield it."
"Wow, amazing," Sakura said.
Kiba gave Naruto a weird look. "I'm surprised you can lift that sword, Naruto."
Naruto grinned. "For some reason, this thing is really easy for me to lift," he said as he turned the sword so that the cutting edge was pointing away from Kiba.
"You're not even holding the thing right," Kiba said.
"I don't want to kill a fellow leaf shinobi," Naruto said.
"How nice of you," Kiba said as Akamaru took his place next to him.
"Begin!" Hayate said.
Naruto rushed at Kiba, who ducked under the sword swing and elbowed Naruto in the gut to knock him away. "Not bad, Kiba," Naruto said, getting to his feet.
"There's plenty more where that came from," Kiba said as he tossed Akamaru a food pill, which the dog ate, causing its fur to turn red and made it more feral. "You ain't seen nothing yet," Kiba said, eating a food pill as well before crouching down and making a hand sign. "Human Mimicry!" he said, transforming Akamaru into a feral looking copy of himself. "And now, Beast Mimicry!" he said, becoming more feral looking and making himself indistinguishable from Akamaru.
"This could be bad," Naruto said, raising his sword.
"You have no idea," Kiba said in a slight snarl before charging along with Akamaru on all fours to move quickly, slashing at Naruto in erratic movements.
Naruto found it difficult to dodge, but his huge sword made blocking easier.
Kiba reached into his hip pouch and pulled out a couple of dark purple balls that he threw to Naruto's feet, revealing them to be smoke bombs.
"Dammit! I can't see a thing!" Naruto thought before he took several hits from the side and back, knocking him out of the smoke, the Kubikiri Hocho flying from his grip as Kiba and Akamaru charged at him.
"Fang Over Fang!" Kiba yelled as he and Akamaru jumped and started spinning so fast that they looked like flying drills.
Naruto barely had time to cover himself with his arms before Kiba and Akamaru hit him at the same time, knocking him into the air, his arms covered in claw wounds.
"Naruto!" Sakura gasped.
"That son of a bitch hurt our man! Cha!" Inner Sakura yelled.
"He's not our man!" Sakura mentally snapped at her inner self.
Naruto groaned in pain as Kiba and Akamaru continued their assault, cutting him up even more before he landed near his sword. Struggling to his feet, he took hold of his sword, though Kiba slammed him into the wall.
"Just give up, Naruto," Kiba said. "You can't beat me. You were always the dead last."
Naruto growled as his whisker marks thickened, his canines grew, his eyes turned red with slitted pupils, and his nails became claws.
"Use my power," The Nine-Tails growled.
"No! I won't!" Naruto thought as his wounds healed.
"What the hell?" Kiba said.
"Why not?" The Nine-Tails asked.
"You know damn well that I promised Sakura-chan that I wouldn't use your power!" Naruto thought as his features went back to normal and he looked Kiba in the eyes. "You have no idea how wrong you are, Kiba." He then kicked Kiba away and made a familiar hand sign. "Multi Shadow Clone Jutsu!" Eleven clones of the blond poofed into existence, each holding a copy of Naruto's sword. "Let's get 'em!" he said before they charged, six each going after Kiba and Akamaru. "Na Ru To!" three of each group called out as they kicked the dog and his master into the air, using their swords as springboards for the rest of their groups, who kicked Kiba and Akamaru further into the air and throwing their swords at them, which were revealed to be more Shadow Clones in the guise of swords, kicking Kiba and Akamaru further up and launching Naruto and another clone above the two. "Uzumaki Barrage!" he and his clone yelled as they ax kicked Kiba and Akamaru to the floor, knocking them out and undoing Akamaru's transformation.
Hayate checked on Kiba. "The winner is Naruto Uzumaki."
"Alright! I won!" Naruto yelled happily, picking up his sword and putting it away as he returned to the balcony. "Pretty cool, huh Sakura-chan?"
Sakura nodded. "Yeah, pretty cool."
The next match was selected as Kiba and Akamaru were carried out by the medics.
Neji Hyuga vs Choji Akimichi
"Aw man, that guy is really strong," Choji moaned as he and Neji went down to the arena.
"You won't win," Neji said. "It is your destiny to lose to me."
"Aw shut up, Neji," Choji said.
"Begin!" Hayate said.
Choji jumped back as Neji took the Gentle Fist stance. "Expansion Jutsu!" he yelled, expanding to the size of a huge boulder before pulling his arms, legs, and head in and rolling toward Neji at high speed. "Human Boulder!" he yelled, trying to crush Neji, who dodged his attacks until Choji had to return to normal size.
"Eight Trigrams 64 Palms!" Neji said, running at Choji and starting his strikes. "2 palms! 4 palms! 8 palms! 16 palms! 32 palms! 64 palms!"
Choji was thrown back by the strikes, unable to move.
"The winner is Neji Hyuga," Hayate said, prompting the medics to carry Choji out as Neji returned to the balcony before the next match was chosen.
Hinata Hyuga vs Gaara
Hinata looked at Gaara, a look of fear in her eyes. "I-I withdraw."
"Due to Hinata's withdrawal, the winner is Gaara," Hayate said before the final two combatants, Rock Lee and Ling went to the arena.
"We meet again, Rock Lee," Ling said, his tail emerging from his cloak. "You will not walk away from this the same as when it began," he said, his tail's stinger pointing at Lee.
"We will see about that. Let us give this battle our all!" Lee said, taking a stance.
"Begin!" Hayate said.
Lee ran at Ling. "Leaf Hurricane!" he exclaimed, kicking Ling hard, only for Ling to stop in midair and turn into a large flock of crows. "What is going on?" he asked before the crows became shuriken and flew at him, most lodging themselves in his flesh.
Naruto looked on in confusion. "What's going on? Bushy Brow stopped short with his attack and just froze up."
"Looks like Ling decided to give us a demonstration of his skill with genjutsu," Fu said.
Naruto looked at him. "He's got Bushy Brow in a genjutsu?"
"It makes sense, Naruto," Sakura said. "Those under the influence of genjutsu either freeze up or pass out."
From Lee's perspective, the shuriken disappeared, and the skin on the right side of his face started peeling away, revealing the face of another.
"Lee," a familiar voice said.
"Is that, Neji?" Lee asked.
"You are a fool, Lee," Neji said, the right half of his face showing as Lee's hand started choking him. "You should give up on being a ninja." As he spoke, a bulge appeared in Lee's belly and came out of his jumpsuit, revealing itself to be Tenten's head.
"Lee, I can't believe you'd make a mockery of shinobi by trying to be a skilled one without any jutsu," Tenten said as another bulge appeared from Lee's left shoulder, that of his teacher, Might Guy.
"I expected more from you, Lee, but you're a disappointment," Guys said, shocking Lee to tears.
"I don't get you, Bushy Brow," another voice said, Lee's left hand rising as an eye appeared on its palm and opened, revealing a cold, sapphire blue eye. "You can't use ninjutsu or genjutsu. So why bother even trying to be a splendid ninja?" Naruto asked.
Lee was shocked, but figured it out. "It is, just a genjutsu. It is not real."
"Telling yourself it isn't real won't help you," Ling's disembodied voice said. "You cannot escape my genjutsu. Ephemeral in particular is difficult to break for even skilled shinobi. I've read your file. You can't use chakra, which renders you incapable of breaking my genjutsu on your own."
Lee then thought of something.
(flashback)
"Guy-sensei!" Lee said, getting Guy's attention.
"What is it, Lee?" Guy asked.
"Guy-sensei, if I cannot use chakra, then how am I to break free of genjutsu?" Lee asked.
"Well, Lee, you can still create chakra through your taijutsu, but you have to use the Eight Inner Gates," Guy said.
(end flashback)
Lee's eyes narrowed in determination. "The Eight Inner Gates. First Gate: Gate of Opening, release! Second Gate: Gate of Rest!"
Ling looked at him in curiosity as Lee's skin turned red.
"Third Gate: Gate of Life! Fourth Gate: Gate of Pain!" Lee said, feeling the chakra start to flow.
"So he can open the Gates," Ling noted.
"Fifth Gate: Gate of Closing, Open!" Lee said, a green aura emerging from him.
"The amount of chakra emanating from his body is impressive," Ling said as Lee broke the Ephemeral and let out a yell.
"THE EIGHT INNER GATES! SIXTH GATE: GATE OF JOY: OPEN!" Lee yelled as chakra came off his body in waves.
"He broke free?" Lan Fan asked in shock as Lee charged at Ling and kicked him into the air and jumped after him, hitting him with punches so fast his hands caught fire from the friction of the air.
"ASA KUJAKU!" Lee yelled as he continued his barrage, which created a fan shaped aura behind Ling, before finally knocking him to the floor and landing. "I did it! I defeated him, Guy-sensei!" His celebration was cut short as a familiar stinger pierced his stomach and threw him into the wall before retracting. "But, how?" Lee asked, seeing Ling before him, completely unharmed.
"When I noticed who your teacher is, I considered that he might have taught you how to open the Gates, so in case you managed to break Ephemeral, I placed another genjutsu beneath it to trick you into lowering your guard," Ling said. "And now victory is mine, thanks to the poison that is now in your bloodstream," he said, a drop of said poison falling off the stinger before it was retracted.
"Poison?" Lee asked, finding himself having difficulty moving.
"Yes, and it's starting to work," Ling said as Hayate looked Lee over.
"The winner is Ling Osoreida," Hayate said as Ling produced a syringe and injected its contents into Lee as the medics arrived.
"What did you inject him with?" one of the medics asked.
"The antidote," Ling said simply.
Hayate cleared his throat as Lee was taken away by the medics. "Would the winners please come down here?" Once the winners, minus Sasuke, were lined up before him, Sarutobi spoke up.
"Congratulations on making it this far," Sarutobi said. "You will be given a month to prepare for the final matches."
"What? We're not having them now?" Naruto asked.
"It will give us time to arrange for the arrival of the various nobles, along with the Kazekage and Mizukage. In addition, it will give you time to train. Your fighting styles have been showcased today, so using your old tired tricks is a good way to lose," Sarutobi said as Hayate stepped forward.
"This is the line up for the final matches," Hayate said as a display came up.
Naruto Uzumaki vs Neji Hyuga
Sasuke Uchiha vs Gaara
Fu vs Kankuro
Lan Fan vs Temari
Sakura Haruno vs Ling Osoreida
Naruto and Sakura gasped slightly at who Sakura would face.
"Sakura-chan..." Naruto thought, fearing what might happen to Sakura
Sakura's face set into a determined expression. "I have to get stronger. At my current level, Ling would kill me in a heartbeat."
We will meet again in one month. Dismissed!" Sarutobi said, prompting the genin to leave.
Naruto moved next to Sakura. "Sakura-chan, you okay?"
Sakura nodded. "Yeah. I know what I have to do."
"Sakura-chan, please be careful. I don't want to see you hurt," Naruto said.
"Naruto, don't worry. I'll be fine," Sakura said.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Sakura entered the hospital and went to the front desk.
"Can I help you?" the receptionist asked.
"I'd like to see Lady Tsunade," Sakura said.
"Of course," the receptionist said, giving Sakura directions to the slug Sannin's office.
Sakura thanked the receptionist and went to Tsunade's office, knocking on the door.
"Enter," the voice within said.
Sakura entered and closed the door behind her, seeing Tsunade, who despite her age, was still looking young with blond hair tied up in a ponytail, amber/brownish eyes, a purple diamond mark on her forehead, and a gray kimono that was loose enough to reveal a generous amount of cleavage with a green coat over it. "Hello, Lady Tsunade."
"How can I help you?" Tsunade asked.
"My name is Sakura Haruno," Sakura said.
"Ah, Hisana's granddaughter," Tsunade said. "You've got a lot to live up to."
Sakura nodded. "Yeah. I want to be strong, like Granny Hisana. So I came to ask you to train me for the finals of the exams."
Tsunade smiled. "Sakura, according to Kakashi, you have top notch chakra control, and are very intelligent. With the right training, you will make an excellent medical ninja. I will gladly provide that training."
Sakura returned the smile and bowed deeply. "Thank you, Lady Tsunade. I promise I won't let you down."
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Naruto was very annoyed at the moment. Kakashi was refusing to train him.
"Naruto, I'll be busy training Sasuke. But don't worry. I found you a teacher much better than me," Kakashi said.
"Really?" Naruto asked. "Who is it?"
"He's right over there," Kakashi said, pointing at the front desk, where an old man with a long white ponytail and a scroll on his back over a red coat and green kimono was flirting with the receptionist.
"Him?" Naruto asked before the man came over.
"Sorry about the distraction," the man said.
"Who are you?" Naruto asked.
The man went into a Kabuki pose. "Who am I, you ask? I'm the one and only Jiraiya! The sexy beast who strikes fear into the hearts of men!"
Naruto sweatdropped. "Is this guy for real, Kakashi-sensei?"
"Yes, he is, Naruto," Kakashi said. "Master Jiraiya is one of the Legendary Sannin."
"Alrighty then, kid, let's get going!" Jiraiya said. "I've only got a month to whip you into shape for the finals!"
Naruto grinned his trademark grin. "Lead the way!"
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
(Day 1)
Naruto stared at Jiraiya, discovering quickly that the man was a huge pervert. "Pervy Sage, you're supposed to be training me, not peeking in the bath house."
"Don't call me that, kid. And it's research," Jiraiya said.
Naruto quickly lost his patience. "PERVY SAGE, QUIT PEEKING IN THE BATH HOUSE AND TRAIN ME!" he shouted, causing the girls in the bath house to run away screaming.
"Ah! You ruined my peeking! I mean research!" Jiraiya lamented.
"GET TO TRAINING ME, PERVY SAGE!" Naruto shouted.
"Alright already!" Jiraiya said, leading Naruto to a secluded area. "Alright, Naruto, the first thing you need to do is come to an understanding with the Nine-Tails."
"How do you know about that?" Naruto asked.
"I helped design its seal," Jiraiya said. "Now, talk to the Nine-Tails and see if you can't come to an understanding with it.
"Alright," Naruto said, sitting down crossleged and entering his mind, appearing before the Nine-Tails cage. "I think you know why I'm here, furball."
"I will not accept you as my master," the Nine-Tails said.
"I don't want to be your master," Naruto said. "I'd rather be your friend."
"What is a friend?" the Nine-Tails asked.
Naruto sat down in front of the cage. "Someone you trust with your secrets, who helps you with your problems."
"I have never had a friend," the Nine-Tails said.
"Well, I'll be your friend, if you want me to," Naruto said.
"Perhaps in the future, but not yet," the Nine-Tails said. "For now, we are not friends, but we are allies. I will help you by providing my chakra, and allowing you control."
"How do I know you're not lying?" Naruto asked.
"I'm a fox. We always keep our word."
"Alrighty then!" Naruto said before leaving his mind. "Me and the furball have come to an understanding."
"Alright then," Jiraiya said. "Now then, thanks to your huge chakra reserves, you can make upwards of thousands of shadow clones and have a decent amount of chakra in each. But what you might not know, is that everything a shadow clone learns, you and other clones learn when it disperses. In this way, you can learn many things quickly. Which is good for what we'll be doing. I'll be teaching you several things, and you can learn them at the same time with your shadow clones."
"Awesome!" Naruto exclaimed. "What are you gonna teach me?"
"The summoning jutsu, how to use trench knives in case you get separated from your sword, and the Rasengan," Jiraiya said. "In addition, you'll be working on using the power of the Nine-Tails."
"Cool! What am I gonna be summoning?" Naruto asked.
"Toads," Jiraiya said, biting his thumb to draw blood and running through some hand signs and slamming his hand on the ground, a summoning array spreading from his palm. "Summoning Jutsu!" after the resulting smoke puff cleared, there was a man sized toad under Jiraiya, which unrolled a large scroll from its tongue and placed it in front of Naruto. "That is the Toad Summoning Contract. To be able to summon the toads, you must first sign that contract in your own blood, and then press your finger prints of that same hand in blood beneath your signature."
Naruto nodded and unrolled the scroll, seeing Jiraiya's name, and next to the first empty space was the name Minato Namikaze. "The fourth Hokage signed this?"
"Yes he did. He was my student," Jiraiya said.
"So I'm following in his footsteps by being your student," Naruto said before biting his thumb to draw blood and wrote his name in the first empty space and pressing his finger prints beneath it.
"Now, make some shadow clones and have them work on the Summoning Jutsu," Jiraiya said.
Naruto nodded and made the hand sign. "Shadow Clone Jutsu!" he said, making 20 shadow clones and set them to work on summoning.
"What next, Pervy Sage?" Naruto asked.
"Next, we'll get you started on the Rasengan," Jiraiya said, handing Naruto a water balloon and picking one up himself. "You need to use you chakra to use the water in the balloon to pop it. Like so," he said before making the water move around, the balloon spiking out before popping.
"Alright!" Naruto said, making more shadow clones and setting them to the task.
"Now, make more clones for me to teach the use of trench knives. While you yourself work on the power of the Nine-Tails," Jiraiya said.
Naruto nodded and made a dozen shadow clones for Jiraiya to instruct, and another dozen to practice swordplay before going to another area to work with the Nine-Tails.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Sakura and Tsunade stood in the private training room of the Haruno clan.
"Listen, Sakura," Tsunade began. "For medical ninja, one's combat ability is secondary. Have you any idea why?"
"Yes, ma'am," Sakura said. "Medical ninja are in the squad to offer support. We're there to tend to our comrades in battle. So it's our healing ability that's the most crucial."
"No it's not!" Tsunade snapped. "The most important thing for you to master is evasion."
"Just dodging?" Sakura asked.
"A medical ninja must never be hit by an enemy attack," Tsunade said.
Sakura nodded in understanding. "Who'll heal the squad if the medical ninja dies?"
"Exactly," Tsunade said. "So, we'll start with evasion exercises," she said, picking up a volleyball from the bin next to her. "You job is to dodge the volleyballs I throw at you."
"That's it?" Sakura asked, a little skeptical.
Tsunade smirked and threw the ball at a wall, creating a very large dent in the wall, making Sakura pale. "I won't hold back."
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Another chapter, complete. Naruto and Sakura begin their training. All credit for the volleyball exercise goes to wilkins75, the author of Return of Namikaze and it's sequel Return of Namikaze 2, along of with Land of Ice. Kudos to you for these excellent works, which are all on my favorites list. The volleyball exercise appears in Return of Namikaze. Won't say where for the sake of those who haven't read it. Anyway, until next time, I bid you all a most respectful farewell.