XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Sakura hadn't gone to visit Sasuke to discover his secrets. It wasn't that she couldn't work up the nerve to actually visit. She just hadn't wanted to disturb whatever training exercises that Sasuke had been practicing.
'Could it be...the curse-mark?' She couldn't believe that she had even forgotten about the curse mark in the first place! 'Kakashi-sensei had promised me that everything was fine though.' She managed to convince herself.
'Does that really mean anything?' Sakura argued with herself. She had thought about Kakashi-sensei very little over the month, and none of her thoughts were flattering to him. Aside from tree-climbing, the man hadn't taught them a thing! And then put them in the chuunin exams for Sasuke to get a curse-mark!
"I'm stronger now! I'm not a burden anymore!" She cried. And it was true too. She might not be near Sasuke or Naruto's level yet, but she would get there, in time. She had yet to be able to recreate whatever she had done the week before, but she had increased her own strength and stamina. She knew that if she fought Ino now, or even Hinata, she'd win hands down!
She examined her body, noting her torned clothes. 'I need more durable clothes.' Sakura thought, and her mood darkened considerably at the thought. She sighed, she would not wear that green...thing that Gai kept trying to give her! She would not!!
She brightened at the prospect of clothes shopping though. Shinobi or not, she was still a twelve year old girl.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Chapter 6
Disclaimer: Don't own Naruto or Bleach.
Tenten panted deeply as she stared at Neji. Neji himself had his back to her, glaring darkly at nothing in particular. He purposely ignored the litter of weapons surrounding him in a small circle.
"Not a single scratch on you..." Tenten trailed, off as she straighted up. "It's perfect Neji"
"Let's call it a warm up." Neji said calmly, turning his head slightly to look at Tenten. "We better get going."
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Naruto yawned as he pulled himself out of bed.
'Here we go...' Naruto thought. He blearily rubbed his eyes in an attempt to stay awake. 'I was so nervous I couldn't sleep.'
'Who're you lying to? You slept like a rock.' Minato bluntly threw in his opinion.
'So, I'm up against him huh?' Naruto thought to himself as he realized how powerful Neji might actually be.
'Lee said that the strongest genin in Konoha is a member of his own team...' Naruto thought as he began to get dressed.
'I won't lose to him!' Naruto finally admitted to himself. "I won't!!"
'Shut up. And get going.'
'I hate you.'
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Naruto walked through the village, heading in no particular direction. He had plenty of time before the chuunin exams start, so why arrive early to wait?
'Hyuuga Neji...' Naruto thought to himself as a brief image of Neji's byakugan showed up in his mind. The image was soon replaced by a shield of sand, removing itself to reveal a redhead glaring menacingly. 'Gaara...' Naruto completely stopped walking at the thought of Gaara, who scared him more than he cared to admit. He could only hope that Sasuke won so he'd kick his ass!!
"Hehehe...I'm much stronger now, so I'll be alright!" Naruto thought to himself as he quickened his pace.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Naruto found himself approaching the same spot that he, Sasuke, and Sakura had become genin. As he walked closer to the training posts that he himself had been tied to, he spotted a figure standing in front of it. Naruto studied the figure closely, before realizing who it was.
"Hey, Hinata...You're okay Now?" Naruto asked quietly. He didn't want to scare the girl after all.
Apparently not quiet enough, for she immediately jumped in the air and hid herself behind the post she had been studying earlier. "N...Naruto!" She finally managed to stutter out.
'What's her problem?'
'You're an idiot?'
"Wh...What are you doing here...? Aren't the finals today?" Hinata asked, before Naruto could respond to Minato's insult. She blushed as she studied Naruto. He had apparently decided to ditch his orange jumpsuit, for darker clothing. He now wore a sleeveless dark blue jacket with a hood in the back. He had apparently stopped wearing his headband, and his now longer blonde hair looked to be even spikier than it had been before. He had replaced his jumpsuit bottom with black shorts. On his hands he now wore black leather gloves. Strapped to his back was that sword that Naruto had taken to using in the chuunin exams. He had also replaced his blue sandals with black ones.
Naruto in turn, studied Hinata. She had replaced her baggy jacket, with a long sleeved light blue chinese shirt. She had kept her old black shinobi pants and sandals though.
"I felt like coming here. I became a genin here!" Naruto exclaimed, brightening up at the thought of his past genin exams.
Hinata didn't respond, and Naruto had nothing else to say, so an ackward silence filled the training ground.
'You're running out of time you know.' Minato added, replacing Naruto's thoughts with new ones.
"Eh?! I'm running out of time! Sorry Hinata-chan, I gotta go!!" Naruto said in a big rush as he began to hurry forward, waving behind him as he did so.
"Come watch me tear Neji apart!" He added, leaving a flustered Hinata behind.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
'Here we go.' Naruto thought as he and the other contestants faced the roaring crowd staring down at them. He eyed the rest of the contestants, looking for any changes. Aside from himself and Sasuke, no one had changed much. Sasuke had chosen to wear a dark black shirt that collar's flared up as much as his old one did. He wore black shorts as well. He noticed Kabuto missing as well. Where the hell did he go? Did he EVEN know that the chuunin exams were today?
He was brought out of his thoughts as he heard Sarutobi clear his throat.
"AHEM, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, ESTEEMED GUESTS...WELCOME AND HEARTFELT THANKS FOR GATHERING HERE IN KONOHAGAKURE FOR THE CHUNIN SELECTION EXAMINATION!!"
'Man's he's got a loud voice,' Naruto couldn't help but think. 'Maybe he's making it louder with a jutsu?' He half-asked himself.
"WE WILL NOW BEGIN THE MATCHES OF THE FINAL ROUND BETWEEN THE TEN CANDIDATES WHO ADVANCED IN THE PRELIMINARIES! PLEASE SIT BACK AND ENJOY!!"
"Listen up, all of you. This is the last exam." The proctor announced. Naruto realized with a start that this proctor was different than the one before. He wore the same clothes as the one before, only he wore his Konoha headband backwards in a bandana. He had light brown hair, and disinterested eyes that stared at them all. In his mouth was a long senbon needle.
"All right then...Match one Uzumaki Naruto vs Hyuuga Neji." He said gesturing for the rest to leave. "You two stay down here. The rest of you proceed to the waiting room outside the arena!
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
"Why are we here?" Kensei asked as the vizards sat down in the middle of the stands.
"Cuz Hiyorin wants to see her boyfriend!!" Kuna yelled, waving her hands in the air madly.
"The hell you're talking about?!" Hiyori demanded as a light blush appeared on her cheeks. She rose out of her seats to try to strangle the green haired vizard.
"We're here to see Naruto's improvement." Shinji said simply as he sat down in his own seats. He deftly reached out and pulled Hiyori back into her seat.
"And to support Naruto-Kun." Hachi added, sitting down on the stairs, as he was too big for the seats.
"Then why didn't Lisa, Love, and Rojuro come!!" Kensei, growled, squirming in his seat uncomfortably.
"They have things to do." Shinji replied, "And you don't. So shut up and watch!" He added, turning his attention to the arena.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Outside the arena, Kabuto smirked as he casually removed the anbu mask from the body he had just killed. "I hope you can at least give me a good show Naruto..." Kabuto trailed off as he placed the mask on his face.
"I've got a tough job ahead of me." Kabuto grinned darkly behind his mask.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
"Hey Hinata, there are two seats over here! Kiba yelled, his hands grabbing both of the seats he had mentioned.
"Th-thanks." Hinata stuttered stepping forward and sitting down.
"This'll be quite a show!" Kiba declared, grinning wildly.
Hinata didn't say anything, but she was worried.
"Does Naruto have a chance against Neji?" A feminine voice asked from behind Kiba. Kiba and Hinata turned around to see Sakura standing behind them. Like Sasuke and Naruto, she had changed her outfit. She now wore a darker red chinese short sleeved shirt. Her shinobi pants were now longer than they had been before. She had also taken to wearing her headband on her forehead.
"I don't know." Kiba answered honestly. If you had asked him before the chuunin exams, he would've said no way. But if you asked him now, he honestly had no idea.
"MATCH ONE BEGIN!!"
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
"I can't wait to see the despair in you eyes when you learn the truth." Neji smirked as he slid into a jyuuken stance.
"Shut up and Fight!" Naruto replied, reigning his reiatsu inside of his body
'If I get too close, he'll seal my chakra.' Naruto acknowledged as he stared at Neji. 'But there's not much I can do from a distance.' Naruto thought.
'I'll just attack and deal with the crap later!!' Naruto thought as he charged at Neji, drawing his zanpakuto from it's sheath.
'Is he forming that chakra thing?' Neji asked himself as he saw Naruto charge. 'No...he's just charging. He's underestimating me!' Neji thought. As soon as he finished that thought, Naruto was in his face. Neji blinked, Uzumaki hadn't been that fast before. Neji leaped over Naruto, using Naruto's head to push himself forward. Neji landed lightly right behind Naruto and pivoted, lashing out with his foot. Naruto, who had a feeling that Neji would try something like that, had ducked, making Neji's kick completely miss.
Naruto, taking advantage of Neji's mistake, crouched down and managed a fast sweep kick. Neji tried to correct his balance by starting another spin. Naruto knocked Neji's remaining foot out from under him, stopping his spin and knocking him over. Neji quickly pulled himself upwards, glaring darkly at Naruto. He wordlessy activated his byakugan.
'He's playing for keeps now, I can't hold back!' Naruto thought, placing much needed distance between them with a flash-step. "Show them our power...RetsuByakko!!" Naruto roared, as he felt six segments of made of his chakra form, starting from his right hand all the way to his left. The blade itself had grew the size of a zanbatou, and a chakra segment clamped down on the blade, holding it in place. Naruto smirked at Neji, as he felt the segments float close to his body.
"Let's go wild!" Naruto grinned wildly at Neji, knowing it pissed him off. Before Neji could say a word, Naruto had launched himself into Neji's defenses using shunpo. Naruto threw a punch at Neji with his right hand, who simply leaned back to avoid it. Neji's eyes grew wide as he saw Naruto's swing his left arm behind him, causing the chakra plates floating behind him to swing in an backwards arc, the blade headed right for him! Neji, seeing no other choice, took to the air to avoid the giant blade.
'I thought that'd work...' Naruto thought, as he saw Neji go up in the air.
'He's in the air now, so he can't dodge!!' Minato added, making Naruto's eyes widen at the realization. Naruto jammed the zanbatou in the ground, to give himself stability, to fling himself at Neji with a flying kick. Neji, eyes widening even further sighed. 'I have to use this so early...' Neji thought. He trailed off as he gathered chakra all around his body.
Naruto was completely unprepared when his foot stopped JUST before impacting against Neji's stomach. So he was shocked even further when Neji begin spinning, forming a dome of chakra, that repelled Naruto, and sent him flying back down into the ground.
Naruto flew down, only to land onto one of his larger chakra plates that had flew forwards to protect him. 'What was that?' He wondered as the zanbatou segment pulled itself out of the ground. He eyed Neji shrewdly as he landed on the ground.
"You thought it was over...?" He thought with a smirk.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
"What the hell was that?!" Sakura asked.
"Kaiten..." Hinata whispered, eyes wide.
'Hehehe...it's perfect!' Tenten thought as she mentally went over the workings of the technique. 'It seems like Naruto is able to control that...thing now. It won't be enough though. Not against Neji.' Tenten thought to herself as she smirked.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
"That's your..." A little girl with the Hyuuga's trademark white eyes stammered.
"The Kaiten is a secret that is passed down through the main brance to the heir alone." Hiashi said, silencing his younger daughter. 'Yet Neji was able to recreate it on his own. He's far more brilliant than I thought...' Hiashi trailed off as he watched Neji return to his old jyuuken position.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
'Those things are made of chakra...' Neji thought as he focused on the plates floating freely around Naruto. 'If I disrupt the chakra holding it together with my own...' Neji trailed off as he made a decision.
Naruto was waiting for him as he saw Neji run at him. He was completely surprised when Neji stopped in front of him, and spun himself inside of Naruto's defenses. Before Naruto or Byakko could react, Neji directed a palm full of chakra at the space INBETWEEN two of the chakra segments.
Naruto's eyebrows rose when he saw Neji...miss on purpose? Naruto's eyes widened however, when he felt two segments of Byakko disintegrate and disappear. 'What?!' Naruto yelled in his mind.
Neji, seeing Naruto's shock, immediately launched into a new jyuuken stance. "You're in the boundaries of my Eight Trigrams."
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
'That stance...It can't be!' Hiashi thought as he watched Neji prepare what he thought was another main branch secret technique.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
"Two palms!" Neji cried out as he placed two chakra enchanced strikes into Naruto.
"Unh!" Naruto grunted but could do nothing to stop it at this point.
"Four palms!"
"Eight palms!!"
"Sixteen palms!!"
"thirty two palms!!"
"sixty four palms!!"
With each shout Neji increased the number of jabs he laid into Naruto. At his final shout he stared as Naruto flew back, the rest of Byakko disintegrating behind him, returning to the form of a plain old katana. Naruto slammed into the ground, and laid there.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
'A member of the cadet branch...has surpassed the main branch completely.' Hiashi thought with no small amount of anger.
The rest of the audience stared in shock at the scene they had just witnessed. They slowly began to cheer as they thought the match was over.
'It's over.' Gemna thought as he looked at Naruto's crumpled form.
'He truly is a fearsome natural talent. It's too bad he can never be heir.'
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
"Ouch." Kensei said, grinning as he watched Naruto fall. "That's gotta hurt."
Hiyori didn't say a word, merely gripping her seats tightly, teeth clenched.
"Hmm..." Shinji hummed thoughtfully as he watched the scene.
Kuna didn't say anything, she had already lost interest in the fight, she had been focusing on the people around them and her actions.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
"I've pressed the 64 chakra around you body. You can longer move." Neji lectured as he watched Naruto squirm. He deactivated his byakugan, feeling no need to keep it activated.
"It must be frustrating. Here on your knees before my strength. Learn your own powerlessness!" He cried.
"Believing that your dreams will come true if you try hard enough is simply a fantasy." He trailed off as Naruto glared at him. Was he imagining things...or was Naruto's eyes turning yellow?
"I'll tell you...about the hateful legacy of the Hyuga clan!"
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Up in the stands, Hinata suddenly began to cough violently.
"Hinata! You alright?!" Kiba asked, placing his arm around her shoulders gently.
"Allow me..." A voice calmly said from behind Kiba. He whirled his head around to see an Anbu standing behind him.
"Who are you?" Kiba asked suspiciously. He wouldn't put Hinata in any danger if he could help it.
"Well...let's just say I'm not your enemy." He led Kiba and Hinata further up the stands where he gently laid Hinata down and performed a diagnostic jutus. His hands then hovered around Hinata's body as it glowed green. "She'll be fine." The anbu casually mentioned, as he finished. "But she won't be able to watch anymore matches"
"Huh?" Kiba said just as the anbu slammed his glowing green hands into Kiba's chest, knocking him out.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
'Oh no...I knew it.' Ino thought as her hand covered her mouth.
'Naruto...' Sakura thought as she watched him pull himself back on his feet. She paid no heed to Kiba following the anbu with Hinata nor the fact that they hadn't returned. Every else had suddenly noticed this too, as the cheering had been silenced.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
"I don't want to hear it." Naruto growled, his voice strangely distorted.
Neji was shocked. How the hell was Uzumaki even standing. Subconsciously reactivating his byakugan, he stared even further. Naruto's chakra had been sealed, and was STILL sealed. Naruto's body however, had been filling up with some unknown energy. It was dark black, with piercing yellows eyes as it leered at him from inside Naruto. He deactivated his byakugan as the energy Naruto was leaking had been starting to hurt his eyes. With his byakugan now deactivated, he saw what looked like a mask growing over Naruto's face. As soon as it covered his face completely Naruto vanished from Neji's view.
Neji scanned the environment quickly, before looking overhead. He looked up just in time to see four shuriken flying towards him. He quickly activated a kaiten, slowing the shuriken enough to grab each of them and throw them back at Naruto, who simply vanished out of view. Neji activated his byakugan, and turned to face Naruto. He pulled out a kunai, to see Naruto pulling one out of his own pouch. They launched the kunais at each other, only for them to meet each other and bounce off.
Neji saw Naruto standing there, seeming to mold the strange energy he was producing into his hands. He watched as a Naruto's left hand spun quickly around his right hand. As he stared, he saw a yellow sphere slowly appear in his hands.
'Naruto, we haven't been able to form a cero yet!!' Minato yelled inside Naruto mind. He had chosen to let Naruto wield his power in order to continue due to the fact that he really didn't want to fight Neji. 'They always explode or something on us!'
"I'm counting on that!!" Naruto yelled as he charged at Neji, golden sphere in hand.
'I can't let that hit me!' Neji thought as he began a kaiten. He had managed to form a small shield of chakra in front of him just as Naruto rammed his sphere into it.
Neither shinobi nor audience was prepared for the explosion that occured as Neji's chakra and Naruto's reiatsu mixed with each other. The force of the explosion blew both of them backwards, deep into the smoke.
'What amazing strength. It's crazy! The Hyuga kid is probably...' Gemna thought as he eyed the smoke.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
'What was with the mask? It couldn't be...the Kyuubi could it? No that wasn't a fox. Then what?' Sarutobi asked himself. He could see the changes in Naruto's face, via, his eyes changing color and filling out black, but he hadn't sensed any chakra in any of those attacks. Nor had he felt any malicious intent in those attacks.
Orochimaru sitting next to Sarutobi couldn't help but wonder what that was as well. 'It's effect was strangly similar to the effects of one of my curse-seals.' Orochimaru thought. He too had noticed the eye changing and demonic looking mask forming. 'Who are you...Uzumaki Naruto?' Orochimaru thought, as he wished he had given the brat a curse-seal as well.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
"Damn!" Kensei cursed.
"Heh." Hiyori's facial expression had changed from worried to devious in a second.
Shinji still hummed thoughtfully as he quietly analyzed Naruto's reiatsu.
"I'm going to get something to eat!" Kuna yelled as she stood up.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
"Who won?!" Ino asked as she tried to see through the rapidly clearing smoke.
"How should I know?" Shikamaru asked, trying to see through the smoke just as hard as Ino.
Gaara stared, a curious look in his eye. Could Uzumaki be a demon just like he was? Mother hadn't told him anything about this. Gaara shook his head. The Uzumaki didn't matter yet. All that mattered was the Uchiha.
Sasuke stared. 'The dobe's improved a lot.' Sasuke acknowledged, scowling slightly. 'Where'd the mask come from? WHY did it come?' Sasuke thought, activating his sharingan eyes in a vain attempt to try to dicepher Naruto's secret. 'What have you been learning Naruto?' He finally asked himself.
Kankuro and Temari exchanged terrified looks. It appeared that Konoha had their resident demon hiding out in their village. And it looked like this demon COULD control it's power very well.
Shino didn't say anything, merely raised a slight eyebrow as a his bugs buzzed wildly. Whatever that energyt was that Naruto had wielded, the bugs hadn't liked the taste of it.
"Yes!! Naruto won!!" Sakura squealled happily. She didn't know where that mask came from or what it did, but she really didn't care at the moment. She could always ask him later right?
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
As the smoke cleared, the audience saw the shape of a figure standing there. When the smoke had disappeared completely, Naruto could be seen staring down inside of a deep hole. The proctor looked down in the hole to see the glaring form of Hyuga Neji.
"Can you move?" Gemna asked as he peered down at the beaten figure of Hyuga Neji. He saw that Neji's jacket had been torn at the sleeves, and his whole body had been covered in scratches and bruises. Neji himself had been breathing deeply, appearing to be doing his best to stay awake. Gemna turned his attention to Naruto, to see him covered in bruises, but standing there as easily as he had been in the begining of the match. 'It's like he just shrugged off the pain.' Gemna thought as he stared at the mask. He could see that Naruto's eyes had become a pale yellow color, and the whites of his eyes had filled black. Other than that, he couldn't see a thing of Naruto's face. Gemna shrugged, deciding he didn't care.
"The winner is...UZUMAKI NARUTO!!"
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
The audience simply gaped in disbelief over what they just saw. They knew it wasn't the Kyuubi due to the fact that they felt no strange chakra coming from Naruto. The mask itself was kind of creepy, but they could get used to it.
"Heh, the fox boy put on quite a performance! I'm impressed." A chuunin with a bandana admitted as he slowly began to clap. He was followed by the chuunin next to him, and was soon followed by the whole stadium.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
"THAT WAS AMAZING!!"
"GOOD JOB!!"
"NICE BATTLE!"
Naruto simply smiled happily as the audience began to cheer for him. HIM!! He was finally getting acknowledged, and it felt great!! Naruto gave the audience the peace sign as he slowly pulled off his hollow mask. As soon as Naruto took the mask off, he seemed to wince, and run out of energy. He slowly exited the arena, and made his way to waiting box with the other chuunin hopefuls.
'Can you unseal my chakra Minato?'
'I dunno. I can try.'
'You okay Byakko?' Naruto asked, holding up his sealed zanpakuto as he walked up the stands.
'I'll be fine.' The answer satsified Naruto, so he dropped it and continued on his way.
'Wonder if Hinata-chan came to watch? What about Hiyori?' Naruto asked himself as he walked forward.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
'Naruto keeps getting stronger and stronger.' Sakura thought, a wistful smile on her face. 'I have to work harder!' Sakura thought as her wistful smile changed to a determined grimace.
"Wow! He actually won!!" Shikamaru cried out as he gripped the railings tightly. "I can't believe it. I always thought Naruto was one of the unslick guys, like me" Shikamaru added.
" 'Unslick guys?' " Shino questioned from next to him.
"You know, the opposite of the cool guys who always have girls going gaga over them. I think he's got me beat now. This is depressing!" Shikamaru complained.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
"The brat's improved." Kensei grumbled.
"Whaddya expect? For him to lose to that baldy?!" Hiyori asked indignately.
"He is improving at a fast pace." Shinji acknowledged. "Have you tried to teach him kidou?" He asked, looking at Hachi.
"No, I figured to let him adjust to our ways before I tried to teach him anything. I can start after today, if you'd like." Hachi asked, looking at Shinji. At Shinji's nod, he turned his attention to the arena.
"I'm back!" Kuna announced, coming back to the stands. "Naruto won right?!" She asked, staring intently at Naruto walking up.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Here's chapter 6! I'm not too good at fighting scenes, hope i did alright. Well there's the first match of Neji vs Naruto!! The Next chapter's Sasuke vs Gaara.
You know the drill! Leave Reviews, tell me what you think!!