Hokage no Isan Chapter 23, a naruto fanfic

Ah My adoring public, (Ducks a sniper round) Oh very mature! I told you I'd be busy! sorting out the errors in COTY is taking up a lot of time, I only remembered to post this today!

Kakashi: (Watching Icha-Icha the movie: Directors cut) Tardiness is a fatal failing. (Screams as the channel changes to gay porno.

Kyugan: I don;t wanna hear that from YOU. (Points at screen) Roll camera.

Disqualification! Clash of the inner beasts!

Recca grinned as the two entered the booth, eager to rub the swordsman's nose in the way the match ended. "Hey Tokiya!" the enjutsu-shi yelled mockingly "for all your bluster you still only managed a tie!"

The swordsman snorted, "The hot headed monkey who didn't have to EARN his place here," he turned his back to the teen and looked out at the crowd, "has no right to comment on my battles."

Recca lunged at the teen, only for Fuko and Domon to hold him back, whilst Naruto shook his head.

"Besides," Shikamaru added with a snort, "we can skip right to the next match now, that'll be something to see."

The rest of the group blinked, before the pranksters threw eerie gins at each other, causing everyone to sweatdrop and take a step back at the pure evil emanating from them.

"He's right." Naruto snickered, canines showing in manic glee as he snickered in a vulpine manner.

"Yeah," Domon agreed, "Uchiha's gonna get his ass kicked so hard, his ancestors are gonna feel it!"

Recca grinned and gave Gaara a thumb's up, much to the redhead's shock. "Try not to kill the fruit, will ya?" he asked, grinning like the Cheshire cat.

Temari and Kankurou stared at the group in utter confusion. "Aren't they the Uchiha's teammates?" The blonde kunoichi asked, pointing at them as she gazed at Mikagami, the swordsman shrugging aloofly.

"It doesn't mean they have to like him," the swordsman replied truthfully, "I think they were having a wager on how long it would be till he was taken down." He chuckled, "They seemed rather vexed that he's lasted this long."

Temari and Kankurou stared at the swordsman with deadpan expressions, before looking at the trio, who were involved in a fistfight, apparently over who had to pay for ramen after the exam was over. '…They're insane…' the two siblings deadpanned, tear stains on the wall behind them.

Gaara decided not to comment, though a bead of sweat did slide down the side of his skull.

"Man," Kotetsu whistled, "I can see how Tokiya earned the title of No.1 rookie, he's a genius."

Izumo smirked, "Shikamaru was an upset though," he admitted, "I thought this guy was the dead-last at the academy." He snorted, "Guess that'll teach me."

Asuma chuckled, looking down at the arena, where the remains of the icicles were disappearing fast. 'Normally, Shikamaru wouldn't have stood a chance against Tokiya if the match had continued,' the younger Sarutobi admitted, 'but with a team, it's obvious that things would have ended differently.'

He winced, 'Of course, the same could be said for Tokiya too,' he admitted, 'I can see how he made no.1 at the academy, kid's as sharp as those icicles of his, and just as cool headed.'

Sarutobi smiled as he watched the crew clear away the debris. 'All in all, a brilliant crop of potential chunin candidates.' He thought warmly, 'And all from the same village, such a thing has never happened before in the history of the five shinobi nations.'

He eyed the daimyo's in their private booths and noticed the looks of impressed surprise on their faces. 'This is a good thing for the leaf village,' Sarutobi noted, 'it may lead to improved business relations with other countries regarding our services.'

He frowned slightly and eyed his former student, still disguised as the Kazekage. 'Unfortunately, it's given him a good eyeful as well.'

Orochimaru was once referred to as the most calm, levelheaded of the Densetzu no Sannin. Even in the heat of battle, nothing could remove the smug, superior look from his face.

However, underneath the skin of the late Kazekage, the serpent's features were twisted into an un-godly look of fury.

'This…isn't…happening!' he hissed, 'My calculations showed that only the Sasuke and Hyuuga prodigy should have provided this much entertainment!' he grit his teeth together, grounding them down to stumps in his anger.

'Kabuto will pay dearly for this negligence.' He muttered glaring down at the stadium, where his agent was still disguised as an ANBU, causing the bespectacled medic to shiver. 'Still…' he relented, biting his lip to calm down, 'There is still Sasuke-kun's match to be decided.'

The great snake shivered in anticipation, 'Kakashi was impressive as a brat too, even before the sharingan was implanted into his skull.' his eyes widened, veins showing with anticipation. 'Lets see how far you've grown…Sasuke-kun…'

Genma sighed as he called Gaara down to the stadium, looking around for the missing Uchiha, before snorting at the face of his watch. "Ladies and Gentlemen," he called out, "in accordance with the tournament rules, there will be a ten minute window to allow for Uchiha Sasuke to arrive." Pausing for effect he nodded, "Should that time limit end before he arrives, he shall be disqualified."

Ignoring the cries of outrage from the Uchiha's fan club, the chunin turned to the waiting Gaara and nodded in apology. "I ask you to be patient just a little longer," he asked patiently, "should Sasuke not turn up, you will have to face another opponent anyway."

Gaara said nothing, but a few wisps of sand at his feet moved, irritated.

"Dammit," Naruto spat, "the asshole always gets special treatment from these guys." He crossed his arms in a huff, looking unashamedly childish for doing so. "First he gets to be personally trained by Kakashi-sensei and now they're letting him off for being tardy?"

"Yeah," Domon growled, "if one of us was late, we would've been failed just to get to his match quicker."

Recca snorted, waving a hand dismissively, though an annoyed vein twitched above his temple. "Whatever, he doesn't show, I get to fight the ghoul and avenge Lee; he DOES show, we get to watch the ghoul use him as a punching bag." His smirk grew sadistic, "Then I get to fight the ghoul anyway! Everyone wins!"

The trio exchanged high fives with each other; causing the other contestants to sweatdrop at their antics.

'…They really are insane….' Temari and Kankurou muttered, mouth's resembling triangles, their eyes missing as they sweatdropped.

Shikamaru sighed, shaking his head exasperatedly. 'Man…Shino's the only one that hasn't fought yet,' the Nara muttered, 'but he's completely unreadable, so I can't tell how he feels about this lot.'

Abruptly, the lazy genin heard a soft noise and turned his head to stare at the bug master in shock.

'Shino…can laugh?'

As the time ticked away, Orochimaru's patience was slowly wearing thin, and he wasn't the only one.

"WHERE'S SASUKE-KUN!?"

"BRING OUT THE UCHIHA!"

"WE WANT THE UCHIHA!"

"SASUKE-SAMA!"

In the stands, Kagero winced as she eyed the young girls that were waving a banner with the Uchiha clan's symbol on it. "They certainly are…enthusiastic," she muttered, whilst Yanagi flushed, too polite to ask them to sit down and 'shut the hell up', as Fuko insisted she do in such situations.

"Damn groupies…they're always the same." Domon muttered, a vein pulsing on his forehead as he glared at the stands, causing Naruto to blink.

"What's up with Domon?" the blonde asked, looking round as Fuko snickered, waving a hand dismissively.

"Long story," the girl replied with a wink, "but it involves a bunch of women in Zodiac outfits, Tokiya, and a kindergartener with an eye patch."

Domon felt a painful mental stab at each of his beloved's words, tilting to the side with each blow. "Fuko…you wound me…" he whimpered, sitting huddled in a gloomy corner of the booth, tears cascading down his cheeks.

Naruto sweatdropped at the sight, before walking over and patting the giant on the back consolingly, "There-there," he said kindly "she didn't mean it…I think…"

Recca, unaware of his rivals torment, was hopping from foot to foot in irritation, eager to leap into the arena. 'C'mon…c'mon!' he pleaded, 'the fruit isn't coming! Let me fight!'

As if reading his mind, Genma stood forward and coughed, catching the crowd's attention. "Ladies and gentlemen," the chunin called out, "as regretful as it is, rules are rules, and the ten minute window for Uchiha Sasuke has closed." He sighed, bracing for the uproar, "He is hereby disqualified."

"YES!"

Genma blinked at the yell, as did a number of people in the audience, before turning to stare at Recca as the teen leaped into the arena, doing a victory dance as he landed.

"Sweet! I get to fight!" the enjutsu-shi yelled, dancing a merry jig, "God bless Kakashi-sensei's perpetual tardiness!"

He winced as the killing intent from the Uchiha's fan club lunged at him from all sides of the stadium.

"HOW DARE YOU INSULT SASUKE-SAMA!"

"WE HOPE YOU DIE YOU BOTCH-FACED BABOON!"

The enjutsu-shi flinched, bangs covering his eyes, as he stood in the arena. One girl hurled a can at him, which crashed into the side of his head and bounced off. "GET OUT OF THE RING!" she yelled shrilly, "SASUKE-SAMA ISN'T DISQUALIFIED YOU-!"

Recca's eyes shot open and he leveled a wall of killing intent at the stands. "SHUT UP YOU UGLY BITCHES!"

The girls froze, much like Sakura had, the kanji for 'Ugly!?' in the background as their voices echoed the word.

"UCHIHA'S A NO SHOW, AND RULES ARE RULES!" Recca yelled, spazzing out like a chimpanzee, complete with background noise, "IF HE CANT SHOW UP ON TIME FOR HIS OWN FUCKING MATCH, HE'S GOT NO PLACE EVEN BEING HERE!" He grabbed the can and crushed it in one hand, glaring up at the stands all the while. "AND IF I FIND THE BITCH WHO THREW THAT, I'LL BURN OFF YOUR HAIR UNTIL YOU'RE BALDER THAN A BABY'S BUTTHOLE!"

"Empty words." Tokiya snorted, looking cool as he leaned against the wall, "Recca's too much of a gentleman to do that."

"Yeah," Domon snickered, "Mikagami once cut Yanagi's hair without her permission, and Recca beat the crap out of him, saying a woman's hair is her treasure." He grinned, waggling his eyebrows tauntingly. "Then he used a shuriken to cut off Mikagami's ponytail."

The swordsman twitched in irritation, a vein throbbing on his temple. 'Domon you bastard…' he hissed, tempted to run the giant through, 'you didn't need to tell them that!'

Gaara studied the hotheaded chimpanzee he was supposed to be fighting next and scowled in irritation. "Baka." Abruptly, his head shot backwards as the can collided with his forehead with all the force of one of Lee's kicks.

"Who you calling a baka, baka?!" Recca yelled, still red in the face, "If you're gonna insult someone, have the balls to say it to their face!"

Gaara scowled and lowered his head back to its normal position. "Fine," he muttered, "BAKA."

Genma moaned, shaking his head in disbelief as the two shot sparks at each other. 'Great,' he muttered, 'fight hasn't even started yet and they're at each other's throats already.'

"Seventh round," he called out, "Sabaku no Gaara versus Hanabishi Recca, start!"

Recca leapt back and hurled his gunpowder bombs at the sand genin, only for the wall of sand to envelop them.

"Muda-da" Gaara muttered, his tone sounding almost bored, "These are useless against my sand-!"

The section of sand exploded, falling to the ground amidst clouds of smoke, dust and manic laughter.

"HA!" Recca yelled, scooping more out of his pouch, "I knew packing in ten times the potency would work!"

Domon twitched, a vein showing on his forehead, at his rival's words. "Hanabishi," he muttered, having a particular dislike for Recca's trademark weapon at their NORMAL potency, "you trying to kill yourself?"

"Baka," Fuko sighing as she shrugged exasperatedly, "carrying stuff that dangerous around with him…"

Naruto sweatdropped, laughing weakly as he watched the fight develop below, "Nii-san sure likes to play with fire…" he said, laughing at his own weak joke as the others moaned.

Tokiya shook his head exasperatedly, a long-suffering look crossing his elegant features.

"Hot-headed chimp."

Gaara eyed his opponent cautiously, before clutching his head. "Gomen…Kaa-san," the redhead muttered, "you ate some bad blood earlier…" he glared at the enjutsu-shi, "And this one…doesn't look much better."

Recca snorted, unimpressed with the sand shinobi's behavior. "Talking to yourself?" he mocked, "Man you're weird." He leapt back to dodge another wall of sand. "Lemme guess," the enjutsu-shi called out, hurling more explosives at the sand genin, "the amount of sand you can use is limited to that gourd isn't it?"

Gaara said nothing, but constructed a Suna bunshin that grabbed the balls and crushed them before they could detonate. "Is this all you are?" the Jinchuuriki asked coldly, "A firefly?"

Recca twitched at the taunt, then grinned ferally. "Guess again, ass-wipe" he muttered, raising his right middle and index fingers.

Tokiya smirked, stepping away from the wall to get a better view. "About time the idiot got serious." The swordsman muttered.

"I told you, secret weapons gotta be saved," Domon insisted, making a bizzare pose "like Ultraman's Spacium Laser!"

Naruto, not getting the reference, merely grinned as he recognized the meaning of the hand seals.

"This is gonna be good!"

"Ryu no en, Ichi-shiki:" Recca called out, writing the dragon's name with his hands. Abruptly, a massive flaming pillar in the shape of a dragon with whiskers appeared behind him, causing Gaara's eyes to widen. "NADARE!"

Gaara stared in shock as the dragon looped around Recca, eyeing the stadium critically.

"I haven't been out in so long." The female dragon complained, letting the wind blow at her whiskers, "This is refreshing."

Recca grinned apologetically up at the Karyuu, "Sorry to keep you cooped up for so long," he offered, looking up at her, "you ready to rumble?"

Nadare laughed, the ghostly image of her human face appearing in front of her flaming form.

"You have to ask?"

"WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?!" Shikamaru yelled, trying not to wet himself at the sight of the colossal dragon, and failing dismally.

"Nadare of the Karyuu." Tokiya muttered, "One of the Hachiryuu that inhabit Hanabishi's body."

Kankurou's eyes widened, "You mean…he has seven more of those things?!"

"Yeah," Domon snorted "and most people don't last long enough to see past two."

Temari was huddled in a corner, eying her younger brother with a look of fear that, for once, didn't involve the possibility of painful death via sand.

"Gaara…"

The redhead shivered as the dragon's gaze passed over him, before casting an amazed look towards the teen that summoned it. 'What…is he?!' he wondered, blinking as his opponent stepped forwards.

"Lets go!" Recca yelled, clenching his right fist.

"Of course!" Nadare called out, shooting towards it. Gaara's eyes widened and he raised another Suna bunshin between himself and the enjutsu-shi.

"Nadare:" Recca yelled out, pointing his open palm towards Gaara, "DAN EN!"

The enjutsu-shi launched a massive salvo of high velocity fireballs at the bunshin, smashing through it and sending the Jinchuuriki sailing backwards into the wall.

"Get up." Recca called out, Nadare coiling around him like a flaming boa, "Your armor of sand no doubt took the worst of that."

Gaara did get up, and the armor around his face was cracked, falling off to reveal the maniacal rage on his face. "Kaa-san," he muttered creepily, "this one just might be good after all…"

The sand spun around him until his armor had reasserted itself, the calm look reappearing as he brought his hands together in the ram seal.

"Sabaku kyuu!"

Recca leaped back to dodge the sand as it tried to grab him, launching fireballs as he went. 'He can control it at will' the hotheaded genin muttered, 'great…where can I-Yipes!'

A piece of sand wrapped around the enjutsu-shi's leg, slamming him into the ground. Gaara grinned and covered his captive in sand, clenching his outstretched hand savagely "Sabaku Souso!"

The sand contracted, only for it to split apart as another dragon appeared, soaring into the sky with a piercing cry.

"Ryu no en, Ni-shiki: Saiha!" Recca explained, grinning, as the blade headed dragon looped around him. "Should've been a little quicker there." The flame wielder taunted, giving Gaara the finger.

"Like you can talk." Saiha mocked, "Any slower and you'd have been spaghetti sauce."

"Urusei!" Recca yelled, spiking in defense, "And just how do you know about spaghetti sauce?! It wasn't invented in your time!"

Kagero laughed weakly at her son's antics, whilst the surrounding populace had tearstains on their heads.

"Ano…Kagero-san…" Hinata murmured, a little more than terrified, "Those…those dragons…"

Kagero smiled, "They are Recca's strength, eight mighty dragons, each with their own powers." She looked at the shy kunoichi warmly, "Did you ever wonder why our clan name was not Hanabishi, but Hokage?"

The surrounding jounin felt their ears twitch and leaned in to listen to the woman's tale.

"It was because the leader of the clan possessed the natural ability to produce and control flames from his body," the immortal kunoichi explained, "and the source of Recca's flame is the Hachiryuu, the legendary flame of Yamata."

Asuma shivered, 'This guy' he gazed at the fighters booth, 'all these guys…they're monsters!'

Sarutobi stared in shock at the boy, completely caught off guard. It was true that Kagero had informed him of the dragons' presence, but seeing one up close and personal was a different matter entirely, for one thing he hadn't needed a fresh pare of underpants when he'd been told about them.

'He's like a living personification of the Shodai-sama's beliefs,' the elderly shinobi wondered, 'the will of fire…' He chuckled weakly, eyeing his favorite blonde hell raiser fondly. 'Naruto-kun may have some fierce competition for the hokage title yet!'

Orochimaru felt his bladder release itself at the sight before him. 'Such…such power!' he gasped, watching the Karyuu loop around the genin like a serpent, 'Did I make a mistake when I chose Sasuke?'

He shivered, the heat from the flames exciting his reptilian blood. 'Such raw power,' he whispered, 'only the Kyuubi's can compare to it…' he grit his teeth, eyes widening at a terrifying thought.

'The Akatsuki,' he muttered, 'have they heard of this power?' the snake sannin clenched his fist in fear and determination. 'I must act quickly if I am to secure what I want before they arrive.'

"A blade of flame?" Gaara asked, eyes wide, "And those dragons…are you also cursed?"

Recca snorted, "Dunno about cursed," he countered, thumbing over his shoulder "but these guys live in me if that's what you mean."

Gaara's eyes widened, before it set in a calculating look. "Then we shall see whose existence is stronger." He concluded, causing Recca to grin and lunge forwards, Saiha at the ready.

"Wouldn't have it any other way!"

The enjutsu-shi slashed Gaara across the chest with his blade, causing the sand Nin to reply with another wave of sand, which was avoided via Kawarimi.

"Ryu no en, Ichi-shiki: Nadare!" Recca called out, re-summoning the female dragon, "DAN EN!"

The fireballs collided with a wall of sand that cracked, but ultimately held. "The same trick wont work on me twice," Gaara muttered, only to gasp as Recca kicked him in the head.

"You can't see me if you block your own view!" the flame wielder called out, "And I'm not the type to stand still like Domon!"

"Screw you Hanabishi!" Domon swore, giving his rival the finger, veins pulsing on his brow and neck, causing Naruto to laugh.

"Relax," the blonde said calmingly, "you know he loves ya."

The giant shivered and eyed his shorter teammate, looking sick, "That…just sounded wrong."

Gaara growled and noticed the look his 'father' was leveling at him from atop the stands, shaking his head in disgust. 'The Uchiha was supposed to be the signal,' the redhead muttered sullenly, 'oh well, this will do just fine.'

Abruptly, he brought his hands together in the tiger seal, causing the sand to form a sphere around him.

"What the-? Trying to hide are we?" Recca called out, before hurling more fireballs at the sphere. This time though, they didn't even scorch the sand. "The heck?"

"That's Gaara's Suna no Tate, the shield of sand." Kankurou muttered, "Nothing can pierce its shell, and it can react to outside attacks by skewering his opponent."

Domon frowned, shaking his head slightly. 'Hanabishi called out a ringer,' he muttered, 'my Futae no Kiwami could probably deal with it, but then there's the skewering part.' He shivered, 'This needs a team effort, I'd deal with the sphere with the squirt, and Hanabishi'd take him out from long range with one of his Karyuu.'

Naruto smirked up at the giant, "Relax Domon," he said dismissively, "its Nii-san after all."

The giant blinked, then grinned, leering down at his rival in the arena. "Right," he bragged, "that idiot wouldn't die even if he was killed!"

"I can hear you asswipe…"Recca growled, a vein pulsing on the back of his head as his ears twitched.

'It's a sign of faith in you' Nadare chuckled, her human face appearing against a black background.

'They have faith in you,' Saiha added, a grin on his face 'so show them it's not ill placed.'

Recca snorted, a grateful gleam in his eyes. "Gotcha…take a break you two, I'm going for this." He charged forwards, all the while writing the symbol for his next Karyuu.

"Ryu no en: San-shiki: HOMURA!"

The Dragon with the jagged maw at the sides of his beak appeared, his flame wrapping around the enjutsu-shi's arm.

"Here we go!"

"Homura:" the teen yelled, rearing back his fist as the sand shifted to form spikes, "BEN EN!"

The fiery whip promptly lopped off all the spikes, before wrapping around Recca's arm again, the teen ploughed his fist right through the shield of sand, his fist ramming into what felt like Gaara's jaw.

Domon grinned and eyed the older Sand Siblings mockingly. "You were saying about impenetrable?" he asked, leering at them. Kankurou could only stutter in shock, whilst Temari shivered in fear.

"What…IS he?" the kunoichi wondered, not taking her eyes away from the arena.

"My aniki!" Naruto bragged with a grin, eyes closed in his familiar, cute, vulpine manner.

"My rival." Domon Grunted, arms crossed as he gazed down at the enjutsu-shi with stubborn pride.

"My friend." Fuko added with a smile, leaning over the bar to gaze down at her childhood friend and comrade.

"A hot headed monkey." Tokiya finished with a smirk, causing the other three to face fault, and the rest to sweatdrop.

Back in the arena, Recca tried to pull his arm out of what felt suspiciously like concrete, when something wrapped around it, something that felt like…

"SHIT!" he yelped, only to be engulfed by the sand as it wrapped around him.

Gaara, his jaw swollen from the flame enhanced right hook, gestured and lifted the sand into the air. "You're caught now" the redhead muttered, "and I've bound your arms, so there's no way for you to summon those dragons by writing their names."

He smirked, a predatory gleam in his eyes as he took in the look of shock on Recca's face. "You think I didn't notice?" he asked, tightening his grip slightly, "You had to do it several times in a row, an idiot would have figured it out."

The smirk settled down into the redhead's normal look of neutrality. "For all your bluster, you rely too heavily on those dragons." He clenched his hands and scowled.

"Owari da…SABAKU SOUSO!"

OH NOES! RECCA-KUN IS ABOUT TO BE DESERT COFFIN'D!

(BANG BANG!)

How will our hero escape from this peril?!

(BANG BANG BANG!!)

Will Gaara's existence prove mightier?!

(BANG BANG BANG BANG!!"

And just where the hell are kakashi and Sasuke?

(BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG!!"

Kyugan: Who the hell is pounding on my door?!

Sasuke: (Otherside of door) KAKASHI! GET YOUR PERVERTED ASS OUT HERE! WE'RE GONNA BE LATE FOR THE EXAMS!

Kyugan: (Eyes the quuivering form of kakashi, overdosed on Gay porn, reaches for mobile) Genma? it's me, triple my bet on Sasuke being disqualified...i have my reasons.

R&R!!