Of Trees and Frost
By
Ragnorokrising
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Chapter Ten: The Prelims, Part Two
"Fourth Match: Neji Hyuuga VS Naruto Uzumaki." Naruto sighed as the Hyuuga boy next to Lee calmly walked down the stairs.
"Sensei, can I use my swords this time?"
"Yes, unless it's for a killing blow." Naruto chuckled evilly and drew the two weapons. The diamond one lit up in Fire and the jade in Lightning. He had placed seals on them as soon as Kyuubi had taught those specific ones to him. His two worst elements were at his disposal. Neji simply crossed his arms and stared.
"Give up. Fate has determined I will be the winner of this match." Naruto cocked his head to the side and stared.
"Two and a half minutes." he said and threw a wad of cash to Anko. Jiraiya, Anko, Hayate, Hiruzen and the jounin senseis all started placing bets. "That's how long it'll take for me to beat you."
"A weakling like you can not defeat fate." Naruto snorted and spun the swords in his hand.
"Fate is for weaklings. At one time I was convinced it was my fate to be hated by the villagers but then I met an old man and his daughter at a ramen bar. They gave me food and drink and gave me shelter for the night. Then I met Iruka-sensei and he was kind to me. They gave me strength to become strong. Then I met my three senseis who became like my family then my current sensei and my two team mates. Fate had nothing to do with me, because nothing controls your fate, you make your own."
"You truly are a fool."
"One minute and you'll be unable to use your Byakugan, two minutes and you'll be unable to use chakra, two and a half minutes and you'll be unconscious."
"BEGIN!" Neji ran at Naruto and struck out with a palm strike. Naruto went under it and stabbed Neji's leg with the Lightning sword. He screamed as electricity entered his body. Naruto jumped back and tisked three times before put his swords up.
"Sword will make this to easy." he jumped from foot to foot, waiting for Neji. The Hyuuga growled and ran forward. Naruto dodged fists, finger jabs and palm thrusts. Neji swung a leg out with so much chakra you could see a blue aura and it connected with Naruto's left arm. The arm grew limp as Neji smirked. Naruto made a sign with his other hand and let elemental chakra flow into it. Naruto swung the arm right into Neji's stomach. Five ribs cracked as the Earth imbued fist sent him flying. "Forty seconds up." Neji panted as he stood up. He was running low on chakra and he knew it. He ran forward once more and fell to the floor as his leg stopped responding.
"Fifty five seconds." Neji growled and flipped Naruto off. He sighed and de-activated his Byakugan to conserve chakra. "One minute on the dot." Neji stood up with a huge effort of will and roared in anger. He ignored the pain in his leg as he ran forward. Naruto sighed and shook his head.
"I am fated to win this match!" he started a barrage of hits once more as fast as he could. A few times he clipped Naruto but the blonde seemed no to care. Neji made a fatal mistake and extended a fist to far out and received an upper cut to the chin. He spun in the air for a moment before being kicked backwards. He used his hands and his heels to slow down as blood poured from his leg. Even Naruto was panting heavily now.
"One minute…and forty eight seconds." he managed to get out, making Neji angry again. "Ice Style: Freezing Fog!" he took a huge breath and expelled a gray fog that headed straight for Neji. Said Hyuuga pulled his injured leg up, held his arms away from him and spun on one foot. A swirling dome of chakra spun around him as the fog hit. The dome began to freeze as the fog pressed on. Neji was forced to stop with no chakra left in his body.
"No more…chakra left…to use."
"It's been two minutes on the dot Neji and you can't use chakra." gloated Naruto. Neji, from behind the riveted ice half dome shaped like the dome he had just stopped, glared at Naruto who began making hand seals. He tapped the ground gently with his right index finger and let a finger print of blood be pressed into it. From that small bloody marking, a single pill popped up. Naruto picked it up and swallowed it whole. Neji stared curiously at the blonde boy in front of him.
"What is he doing, I've already lost." whispered Neji. Naruto simple burped as loud as he could and smacked his lips together.
"Man that was good." he licked his lips satisfied and yawned. "Now where was I?" he turned to Neji and hit his head with his palm. "Duh, I was gonna beat him." people started to sweat drop as the blonde headed for Neji.
"Ten seconds Naruto." called Anko. Naruto nodded and sped up. Neji backed away as best he could but Naruto smashed straight through the dome and grabbed his collar, using it to pick him up.
"Bye, bye Neji Hyuuga." Naruto swung Neji around and tossed him towards the opposite wall. His head collided with the wall and knocked him out right as the clock hit thirty seconds. He walked up the stairs and sat down next to Sasuke and Choji.
"What was that pill you ate?" the question didn't seem to surprise Naruto so he answered the Uchiha.
"A new medication pill I'm working on. It contains an entire meal to restore energy. The one I ate was a beef, rice with soy sauce, onigiri and tomatoes. I also put in dango and sake." he laughed as Choji, Sasuke and Anko started to drool. Choji from the beef and rise, Sasuke from his addiction to onigiri and tomatoes and Anko because of the dangos and sake. Jiraiya came over to him and clapped a hand on his shoulder.
"Kid, you just made me a crap load of money, ya know that?"
"Where is my money?" Jiraiya laughed and gave him a silver metal suitcase filled with money.
"Don't spend it all in one place."
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Tsunade and Shizune were happier then they had ever been. A few months ago, Sarutobi had sent them a scroll containing Naruto's file and a letter telling her about their being related. Feeling she owed him something, she put her faith on him and bet all the money she had in the Senju clan estate that Naruto would win through with his prediction right on the dot. "I can't believe we just won enough money to pay off all your debts and still have enough left over to double the size of the clan's treasury!" Shizune said excitedly.
"Well he is my grand son, in case you don't remember." Shizune smiled and laughed. They both made multiple Shadow Clones to take the money to the people they owed the money to while they headed to Konoha.
"Why are we going there again? I thought you were never going back."
"I'm going for one reason. If my grandson is any thing like me, I can bribe him to leave the village and come with us."
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"How did a branch member learn the Rotation!?" demanded a Hyuuga elder.
"If he can use that who is to say he can't use the Sixty Four Palms as well!?" a third yelled Hiashi Hyuuga simply sipped his tea calmly.
"If a Branch member is this good, maybe we should ask him to train the Lady Heiress Hinata." suggested the newest council member.
"Are you a complete idiot!?" yelled one of the others. "That has to be absolutely-"
"The best idea an elder has had in a long time. Possibly the only good idea." the sudden interruption and revelation by Hiashi stunned the older members of the council. "A new time is coming. The Sandaime is arranging for Hinata to be apprenticed to Tsunade when she comes back to the village. I have also noticed a certain person with a very powerful bloodline that would make a fine addition to our own becoming interested in Hinata."
"Real, and who might that be?" asked the elder who had spoken first.
"The Uchiha boy, Sasuke." he simply sipped his tea as the room exploded into yelling again.
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Madara opened a scroll in a hidden underground library he had discovered under the currently fleeing Hanzo's house (who had some how managed to survive Tsukuyomi and summon a Salamander to escape) and widened his eye. "Well, well, well, I guess the Kyuubi isn't needed after all."
"Master, what have you discovered?" Pein came out of the door leading to the vault high above the library.
"I have found something very useful. It seems that if we can get at least two Bijuu who are not inside Jinchuuriki, who absorb the demon's strength over time, we can summon Zyuubi, the ten tailed sphinx, from the Void."
"But Master, the only Bijuu without a host at this moment is the Sanbi."
"Did you know Pein, before Zyuubi became a Bijuu there were originally ten?" Madara spun in the chair to look at Pein. "There were two eight tailed Jinchuuriki. The Ushi-oni, currently being held by a host named Killer Bee, and the Eight Tailed Snake, Yamato no Orochi. And if I am correct, the location of Yamato no Orochi is here some where." he swung his arms wide. Pein sweat dropped.
"I'll get my extra bodies and the others and we'll begin." he said. He gave the thousands of shelves containing exactly one million, seventy four thousand, eight hundred and sixty seven scrolls a hateful glance. "What if the information isn't here?"
"Then we go with the alternative."
"Alternative?"
"We go into the Void and try to capture the creature and get out without being trapped our selves by the spell the other Bijuu trapped it with." he turned back around in his chair. "What happened with the match?"
"The nine tail's container has won against the Hyuuga clan prodigy."
"Good, now go get me some sake, onigiri and tomatoes."
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"Fifth Match: Zaku Abumi VS Sasuke Uchiha." a Sound ninja with a fore head protector like Yamato and spiky black hair walked down the stairs from the other side of the balcony. Naruto noticed in the center of each palm was a small hole.
"Sasuke, be careful. I think those holes in his arms are tubes that he uses to attack." warned Naruto. Sasuke nodded and swung himself over the railing. He pulled out a storage scroll as he landed and unsealed a weapon Naruto hadn't seen for a long time. It was in a simple sheath with a beautifully drawn picture of a lake in the spring on one side and the same like at sunset on the other. The handle was wrapped in a red sash that unraveled as Sasuke grabbed the sheath. He pulled on the black handle and released the silver blade from the sheath in a blast of heated air.
"Harusame, the Spring Blade!" the red sash instantly raveled around Sasuke's right hand, allowing him to swing the blade and launch it. He sealed the sheath back up and threw the scroll to Naruto for safe keeping. 'I better finish this quickly. Harusame will only let an Uchiha who does not hold a third level Sharingan wield it for so long.' Hayate signaled for the fight to begin and Zaku pointed both arms at Sasuke.
"Decapitating Air Wave!" A solid wall of Wind flew straight at Sasuke at a high speed. The young Uchiha grabbed hold of the handle with both hands and brought it behind his right shoulder. As the Wind reached a few inches from him, he swung the blade as hard and fast as possible in a sideways swipe. A red blast of energy exploded against the Wind. Sasuke used his chakra to stay in place as the smoke subsided. He made ten Shadow Clones and surrounded Zaku.
"Give up or die." Zaku laughed and slammed both hands onto the ground on either side of him.
"Extreme Decapitating Air Wave!" the ground around them fell apart and formed sand as the blast shot Sasuke back and dispelled the clones. He checked his wounds to see if he was okay. A few small cuts and scratches on his legs were no problem. The problem was the fact he could see the bone of his left leg.
'Shit, I can't move my leg!'
'Who let a Level Two hold me, the great Harusame!?'
'Shut up or I'll snap you in half!'
'Ha, as if a Level Two could snap me! Only a Mangekyou can even attempt and if you have the Mangekyou it must have been achieved in the name of peace not power, which only your brother has done before you!' Sasuke growled in anger. The sword was starting to reject him, this kid had him on the ropes and he was disabled. He blinked and things started to…slow…down. He saw the smoke shift in slow motion, he saw a blast of Wind heading his way slowed to a crawl and felt the rejection of the blade stop.
'Did I…did I activate my third tomoe?'
'Yes, you have. Now, are you going to just get hit or do you want me to stop that attack?'
'Quit being a jackass.'
'You got spunk kid. I like that in a wielder.' Sasuke felt a silvery aura flow over him and felt his leg heal. He let the attack hit him. It didn't cause any damage, just go around him. The Zaku kid looked shock before shaking his head and running at Sasuke for an up close and personal blast. Sasuke smirked and disappeared. Zaku hit the ground before he knew what happened. Sasuke had hit him right in the temple with the handle, knocking him out.
"Winner of match five: Sasuke Uchiha!"
"Yeah, go Sasuke!" yelled Haku.
"Wait to go Sasuke!" hollered Deidara.
"You kicked his freaking ass!" cheered Naruto.
"There should've been more blood!" screamed Anko before Hayate bonked her on the head. "You're lucky were being watched or I'd have to kill you for that!" she threatened. "Or I could castrate you instead." Hayate shuffled away as fast as he could and hid behind the Sandaime. Sasuke came up the stairs as the medics wheeled Zaku away and took his scroll back from Naruto. After sealing Harusame, he sat down next to Naruto and his team.
"Hey kid, is the Demon Suppression seal holding up okay?" he stared up at Jiraiya for a moment and nodded his head slowly, exhaustion from using the sword obvious on his face. "Good, good. Come find me after today is over and you get some sleep and I'll make it stronger." he nodded and leaned his head against the wall, waiting for sleep. When he opened them a second later, Naruto held one of his pills out to him. He took it greedily and swallowed it whole. He sighed and yawned then fell asleep.
"Hey Kakashi," said Naruto all of a sudden. "Who was that Gabrella lady in the Hokage's office a few weeks ago?" Kakashi visibly flinched at the woman's name and it obviously brought up some bad memories but still he explained.
"Well to put it simply, after your dad died, I was traumatized. I wandered around for what seemed like days until I came to the Uchiha district. Since I have a Sharingan I was welcomed there, if only partially. I walked around for a little while until I reached the ninja section. That was when my legs gave out and I collapsed. Gabrella had just come out of the house and ran to check on me."
"She brought me into her house and gave me food and drink. After that, we just, talked. We talked from one in the morning to four in the morning the next day. I took her out on a date a few times before I proposed to her. She took some time but eventually said yes. She was the first woman I loved since Rin abandoned the village. We were happy for a little while. Unfortunately, the day before the massacre, she broke the engagement. I thought she died with the rest."
"I'm sorry I brought it up." apologized Naruto. Kakashi shook his head.
"No, I have no problem talking about it." A small click reached their ears, returning their gaze o the wall.
"Would Kankuro and Misumi Tsurugi please come down to the arena?" the two came down to the floor as Jiraiya finished the Earth jutsu that would fix the floor. It was Gaara's brother fighting one of Kabuto's teammates.
"I just read Gaara's lips." informed Kakashi. "He told Kankuro to make it quick." Kankuro pulled out a scroll and unsealed a large salamander looking puppet and a fat puppet with a latched closed stomach. He unwrapped his bundle and revealed a six armed puppet with three eyes. Blue strings connected each puppet to Kankuro's fingers as he got on the salamander's back and inside a protective shell.
"Begin!" Misumi dodged attacks from the smaller two by moving around like a snake by using his chakra to soften his muscle tissue and bones but the giant third puppet rammed him. Misumi was then caught by the fat puppet and locked inside. The first puppet with six arms split apart into seven different pieces, the arms and head. Each one had a sword coming from the bottom of it. They flew into the side of the stomach. "No killing!" The stomach of the fat puppet opened up to show a shaking Misumi with multiple sword blades a few centimeters from stabbing him.
"I won't kill if I don't have to." said the puppeteer as his three performers disappeared into his scroll again. He walked back up the stairs and stood next to his family members. It was obvious fear still remained between him and Gaara but much less then what there had been.
"Seventh Match," yelled Hayate as the second name appeared. "Gaara Sabaku VS…"
A/N: End of chapter. Sorry for the cliff hanger but I just had to do that. Gaara's fight will be next chapter and one of my favorite OCs will be introduced to you guys. But you'll just have to wait! MWAHAHA!