Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Naruto is the property of Masashi Kishimoto
Piece of the Puzzle
Chapter 12: Magical Girl Lyrical Momo
Having given Momo a last minute pep-talk, Naruto left the contestant's waiting lounge and returned to his seat next to Sakura and Sasuke.
"The crowd's starting to return now." Naruto observed of the arriving audience members.
As the final intermission was almost over, the spectators were returning from the betting booths, refreshment stands, and washrooms in droves.
"I wonder how many people bet on Momo to win?" Naruto wondered aloud, his hand cupping his chin in a thinking pose.
"You didn't bet on my little girl, did you?" Sakura asked Naruto with a dangerous glint in her eye.
"No, of course not!" Naruto said, hastily defending himself. "You know my luck with gambling, I wouldn't use Momo's participation in the exams to profit off her."
Sasuke tried his best to stay calm, quickly scanned the area for all possible exits, and hoped that no one found his betting stubs.
"It would be like grandma Tsunade betting against Momo to make sure she won. If that happened, we wouldn't know if Momo won from her own skill, or grandma's bad luck." Naruto continued, not noticing Sasuke's fight or flight response triggering.
In a second, Sakura's look went from evil back to cheery, and Sasuke's heart rate slowly returned to it's normal levels.
"That's good then. Knowing your luck, as well as master's, I bet Momo's opponent would have caught some rare disease and would have to withdraw, or get hit by a meteor." Sakura commented.
Stranger things have happened.
"It's too bad grandma couldn't come out today." Naruto said solemnly.
Sakura nodded at that.
"Yes, it would have been nice for her to see Momo's matches." Sakura replied. "You know how she is these days though."
It was Naruto's turn to nod now, as he began thinking of the woman he grew to think of as his grandmother.
Tsunade was still alive, apparently too stubborn to die. It was said she would not let herself pass away until Naruto became Hokage, and finally gave her a grandchild. For once, Naruto was smart enough to not point out that his children would be more like Tsunade's great-grandchildren.
While Naruto was in his coma, she stayed by his side at all times, searching for a way to heal him. She stopped caring about her age, and no longer used her youthful illusion.
Once Naruto awoke, she became a very private person. Sakura and Sasuke offered her a place in their home, so they could take care of her, but Tsunade was still a proud woman, and turned them down.
That, and she did not like the idea of being stuck in a house full of kids, especially Uchiha kids. Instead, she lived on her own, and offered private medical lessons to anyone who was interested.
"I'll take Momo to see her soon." Naruto said, surprising Sakura and Sasuke. "I was planning on visiting her anyway, and I bet Momo would like to see her again."
Naruto, caught up in his plans, did not notice the guilty look on Sakura's face.
"I bet grandma Tsunade will be real impressed by Momo's growth, and how much I helped her too! Say, how long has it been since she's seen Momo anyway?" Naruto asked Sakura.
Sakura eyes were darting around nervously, and she caught a glimpse of Momo walking into the arena.
"Oh look! Momo's match is about to start!" Sakura said, changing the subject.
"Hey, you're right! Go Momo! You can do it!" Naruto cheered.
Sakura sunk into her seat, glad Naruto had not pressed her for an answer. Her falling out with Tsunade, despite her efforts to mend their rift, was not something she wanted him to find out about just yet, if ever.
For the final time today, Momo stood on the arena ground, awaiting the start of her final match. Her opponent was standing across from her, and remained in his ready stance.
The swordsman appeared to be wearing a bulky kimono. Most likely it was concealing body armour, or hidden weapons. What was most strange was the blindfold he now wore. Momo surmised it was additional insurance against her illusions, to further keep him from accidentally making eye contact with her.
Both the swordsman and Momo were ready to begin, and seemed to be on a hair trigger. Momo was not the least bit nervous, having received a last minute pep talk from Naruto.
'I'm ready to fight! Let's start this already.' She thought to herself, the anticipation steeling her nerves.
Having already reviewed her plan for the fight, Momo was ready to go at a moment's notice. That was fortunate, as Konohamaru, confirming both contestants were ready to begin, started the final match of the chunin exams.
Forming the hand seal for the earth clone technique, Momo quickly summoned four earth clones to converge on the swordsman. Her sharingan was active, and would allow her to read the movements of the swordsman to detect a weakness.
The earth clones, having formed around the swordsman instead of next to Momo thanks to her developing skill with the technique, circled around the swordsman each attacked from a different position. Two attacked the swordman from his sides, one sought to land a coward's wound on his back, while the last rushed head on, in true Naruto fashion. Whether Momo would win in true Naruto fashion was yet to be seen.
The clones charging from the front and back made the first move, stopping their approach short and hurling their kunai and shuriken at the swordsman. The swordsman quickly turned to his left side, held his ninjato up, and deftly blocked each kunai and shuriken. They fell to the ground, turning back into the earth they were formed from.
By this point, the other two earth clones had made their move. The one now attacking the swordsman's back went low, aiming for his legs with it's tonfa, while the other aimed for his midsection.
Displaying an advanced amount of speed, the swordsman jumped up and landed behind the earth clone, narrowly avoiding it's attack. It fell to the ground, and was shortly cut down by the swordsman. The second earth clone, rapidly adjusting it's attack to compensate for it's comrade's demise, tried to strike back, but was cut down just as rapidly by the swordsman.
The remaining two earth clones were already on their way. Before they could make a move, the swordsman pointed his ninjato at them, and a streak of lighting, emanating from the tips of the ninjato, struck both earth clones. Having been hit by a direct attack from their opposing element, the earth clones fell apart, and back into their element.
At that moment, the swordsman danger senses flared. Letting go of his ninjato, which were hanging from his wrists by straps on their hilts, he formed a series of hand-seals. A protective wall of water appeared next to him, and was promptly hit by a large fireball. While the wall of water hissed as it was being evaporated by the fireball, the swordsman clutched his ninjato again, and returned to his ready stance.
The fireball and the wall of water dissipated, and Momo found herself staring at the blindfolded swordsman, panting from loss of breath. Their exchange had taken only moments, but felt much longer.
'I used up quite a bit of my chakra, and he barely did anything. What am I going to do?' Momo thought to herself, regarding her situation.
There would be no more time for Momo to ponder, as the swordsman began to take a proactive approach. If it was not for the time she spent developing her skill with the replacement technique with Naruto, Momo would have been hit hard by the swordsman's attack. As it stood, she narrowly managed to switch herself with one of the logs left lying around the arena from a previous match.
'He's fast! I don't think I can keep up with him.' Momo thought worriedly.
The swordsman tried a follow-up attack, but Momo was ready for it. Skilfully evading his attacks through the use of the replacement technique, Momo made her way to the tree-line. Using the body flicker technique for a last boost of speed, Momo made her way up into the cover of one of the trees. There she paused to collect her breath, thinking she was safe.
'I should be okay now, as long as I stay still, he shouldn't be able to find me.'
Not less then a second later, Momo heard the crackling of electricity, and jumped from her hiding spot. A ball of lightning collided with the tree, turning her former perch into scorched wood.
'How did he know I was there? Damn, he must be a sensor ninja too.'
The distance between Momo and her nemesis was her saving grace, as it forced him to use long range attacks, which she had a better time evading, and did not need the use of ninja techniques to do so. Still, evading them was not easy, and tiring for her.
'I can't keep this up for much longer. My chakra's low, and I can't keep eating soldier pills all day, they'll damage my chakra coils if I use too many of them.'
Unless it was a life or death matter, risking one's health and future as a ninja was not recommended. Momo had not taken a soldier pill yet, from both having relied on old fashioned methods of regaining her strength, and being taught to ration their use. She would be able to get away with using a soldier pill just once.
'I guess I have no choice, it's now or never. Well, if I'm going down, I'm going down fighting.'
Making up her mind, Momo chomped down a solider pill, withdrew her tonfa, and prepared for her last stand. Concentrating on performing a seal-less body flicker just as Naruto had taught her, Momo fired herself out from her hiding spot, and directly into the swordsman, attacking him head on with a sneak attack. It was definitely a Naruto inspired tactic.
The swordsman was surprised for only a moment. He could sense Momo's chakra being restored, presumably by a soldier pill, and her moulding it for a ninja technique. The displacement of air from the use of the body flicker technique momentarily caught him off guard, but he was still able to place his ninjato before him, blocking Momo's tonfa.
The two of them then began to exchange blows in close quarters combat. One would lead with an attack with one weapon only to find it blocked by one of their's opponent's weapons of choice. The defender would then go on the attack with their other weapon, creating a dangerous back and forth assault.
With the aid of her sharingan, Momo was able to predict her opponent's moves. It did her little good, as his superior speed and strength left her at the same disadvantage that her father once had against Rock Lee. The best she could do was keep an eye out for an opening in the swordsman's nearly flawless stance, while rolling with the punches.
Despite her recent physical conditioning and practice in close combat, Momo soon found herself tiring out, and taking quite a few minor wounds. Her tonfa had been scratched and scorched by the ninjato of her opponent, and their electrical charge respectively.
The swordsman however, still had plenty of stamina, and his ninjato were in good condition. He could easily tell Momo was tiring, and took full advantage of it. Lashing out with his ninjato, he forced Momo to block them, only to reveal it was a feint, allowing him to deliver a brutal kick to Momo's abdomen.
The pain from the blow caused Momo to pitch forward and drop her tonfa, as she became unable to maintain her grip on them. The swordsman was not done though, as he shifted his ninjato to a reverse grip and slammed them down hard on her shoulders, causing her to collapse.
The swordsman then gazed down on Momo's fallen form, confident she would not be getting back up again. He was surprised though, although he made sure no one could tell, when Momo began to stir. She slowly pulled herself up and back onto her feet while gasping for air, refusing to stay down.
"Hey you," Momo said, addressing her opponent in a rude manner while breathing hard, "Is that the best you can do? I know an of old granny who hits harder then that."
The swordsman growled, his calm exterior slowly breaking apart. Momo, despite the pain she was in, and the difficulty she had breathing, managed a slight giggle at his loss of composure. Under other circumstances, it would have made her seem cute, but it only made the swordsman angrier.
"You should just give up little girl. If you choose to keep fighting, you will regret it." The swordsman responded, speaking at last.
A familiar grin appeared on Momo's face, as she stopped gasping for air and delivered a familiar line.
"Why don't you give up trying to make me give up!"
Her fighting spirit renewed, Momo Charged forward once more. Picking up her tonfa, Momo engaged the swordsman in another close-quarters duel. This time, she threw all notions of self defence to the wind, lashing out with kicks and hits from her tonfa that delivered painful blows to the swordsman in exchange for wounds of her own. Momo's newfound energy gave her a slight edge, and the swordsman found himself being pushed into a corner.
"Where did this new attitude come from?" He said aloud, unaware he was doing so. "You weren't nearly this confident, or more accurately, reckless before."
The swordsman, unnerved by Momo's fierce determination, momentarily dropped his guard while speaking, and Momo took full advantage of it. Converting some of her remaining chakra into the earth element and channelling it into her tonfa, Momo thrust her weapons forward and into the swordsman's abdomen, breaking through his concealed armour and hitting him hard.
The blow was clearly very painful, as the swordsman let out a deep wheeze, and fell forward onto his knees. Momo only had seconds to act now before he recovered, but felt compelled to get in one more taunt.
"You want to know why I'm so strong? It's because of my nindo. My name is Uchiha Momo! I don't give up and I don't go back my word! That's my way of the ninja! Believe it!"
Not wasting any more time, Momo reached forward, pulled off the swordsman's blindfold, forced his eyes open and looked directly into them, her sharingan's commas whirling.
"Time to face your worst fears. Demonic illusion: hell viewing technique!"
The swordsman's world went black, and he screamed.
Naruto looked over at Sakura and Sasuke, and noted they seemed indifferent to the turn in the battle.
"Um, guys?" Naruto asked, awkwardly. "Why aren't you more upset?"
Sakura just blinked, and Sasuke gave Naruto another "are you an idiot look", which Naruto countered with his "shut up, you" look. Sakura was obviously the one who answered him.
"What do we have to be upset about?" Sakura asked in response. "Momo's about to win. She couldn't have done it without your help."
Naruto shook his head.
"That's not what I'm talking about. How are you guys okay with me influencing Momo like that?"
Sakura blinked again, looked at Sasuke, and began laughing hysterically. Even Sasuke was chuckling a bit. Naruto huffed again and crossed his arms, not amused one little bit. Eventually, Sakura calmed down and answered him.
"If you're referring to Momo quoting you, and sharing your verbal tic, remember you got that line from Jiraiya's first book. We read it to her, and our other kids as a child, along with telling them stories about the three of us when we were all on a team together."
Sakura sighed and looked away from Naruto for a moment, apparently remembering the good times they once had together when they were younger. Clearing her mind, and throat, she turned back to Naruto and continued.
"I know she spent some time with Hinata lately, so she may have heard your nindo from her. Hinata did copy it from you first."
The look on Naruto's face showed he was unsure of how to feel about that. He had become aware of Hinata's feelings for him, but did not return them, preferring to stay friends.
"As for the verbal tic, I can't really explain that." Sakura said with a shrug. "So, if anything," she continued, "Sasuke and I, and maybe Hinata are the ones to blame for corrupting Momo's innocent young mind."
Naruto let out a sigh of relief after hearing that, glad he was off the hook.
"So that's why she's so similar to me." Naruto said in an excited manner. "You two missed me so much you brainwashed your kids to act like me!"
Sakura looked horrified at that idea, and Sasuke maintained a guarded look.
"We didn't do that!" Sakura quickly stated in her defence. "Like I said, we just told them bedtime stories that were merely edited accounts of our experiences as team seven. We stopped telling them to Momo once she entered the ninja academy."
Shrugging, Naruto let it go.
"Although she may have been affected on a subconscious level…" Sakura said under her breath.
As Sakura tried to reassure Naruto that she and Sasuke were not secretly trying to get their kids to emulate him, Sasuke felt relieved that he dodged another bullet.
'Maybe I should stop taking the kids out to Ichiraku so much. Or trying to get them to take an interest in houseplants, and wear orange. Although Momo's bonsai trees are nice, and I can always say Shippo and Arashi are acting like Obito…'
Distracted by thoughts of one of his many schemes that Sakura must never discover, Sasuke almost missed the end of Momo's match.
All the swordsman from the Hidden Rain Village could see was blackness. He did not understand why, as the demonic illusion: hell viewing technique should have shown him his worst fear, and he was not afraid of the dark. In fact, the swordsman had embraced it.
In a moment though, the darkness was pierced by many lights, and the swordsman found himself standing in a place he hoped to never be in again. All around him were large tents, games, and rides. He was in a circus. This was not his greatest fear though, it was something you find at a circus.
The swordsman looked around in a panic, unable to close his eyes. It was as if he no longer possessed eyelids. The bright lights of the circus were hurting him, as his eyes were attuned to the darkness. How he longed to be back in the gloom of his safe place.
"Oh cheer up why don't you." A disembodied voice called out to him, punctuated by the honking of a horn.
Slowly, as if he could not control his body, the swordsman turned and faced the source of the voice, and his worst fear.
His gaze was low, and the first thing he noticed was the large, oversized red shoes of his mortal enemy. As his gaze raised, he took note of the ridiculous outfit his enemy wore. It was an orange, yellow and pink polka-dotted piece of nightmare fuel if he ever saw one! Raising his gaze higher, he saw the comically large bowtie, make-up covered face, giant red nose, and ludicrous wig and hat of the one he hated, and yet feared so much.
"What's going on here?" Another one called out.
The swordsman again felt compelled to turn and look at source of the next voice. This one was dressed similarly to the first, but carried a rubber chicken, which he kept squeezing, making it squeak in an unbearable fashion.
"Hey, what's going on?" Said a third of the evil beings.
This one carried several long balloons, which he tied into various animal shapes, letting out a squeaking noise that sounded worse then nails on a chalkboard with each twist and bend of the balloon. Once complete, the animals made agonized wails, as if they were in immense pain.
Just as fast as the first three appeared, more and more of the diabolical entities arrived. Some appeared out of nowhere, others arrived riding on elephants, giraffes, and other exotic animals. At one point, a little car came up, and one of the evil beings exited it, followed by more and more.
It was maddening to the swordsman. How many of them were in that car! How did they all fit inside of it? His mind could find no answer that would satisfy him, and it drove him mad. By this point, the swordsman was completely surrounded by those who frightened him the most.
Clowns.
Eventually the swordsman, unable to maintain his sanity, broke down and collapsed, in the illusion and the real world.
Momo looked down at the prone form of her opponent. Moments ago, he was put under a powerful illusion. Shortly into it, he screamed, and fainted, pulling himself into a little ball.
'Wow, he must have some really deep fears. I was real lucky to catch him in that illusion then.'
Retrieving her ninja wire from her pouch, Momo securely tied up her opponent. She then took her tonfa, and crossed them in front of his neck, giving the appearance she was about to cut the swordsman's head off as if the tonfa were a pair of scissors.
"Proctor," Momo called out to Konohamaru, "my opponent in unconscious and I can kill him with ease. I claim victory!"
Nodding at Momo, Konohamaru called the match in her favour.
'I did it!' Momo thought to herself. 'I won, I actually won!'
Momo was elated now, and felt like she could walk on air. So euphoric, Momo did not notice her strength leaving her from chakra exhaustion and the wounds inflicted upon her during the match.
No longer capable of holding onto her tonfa, she dropped them to the ground, her body falling after them. Just before she hit the ground, a tri-pronged kunai landed next to her, and in an instant, Momo found herself in the arms of her true love.
"Did I do a good job?" Momo asked Naruto with her remaining energy.
"You did great Momo. You won, and just like how I would have done it too." Naruto said smiling, very proud of his student. "Rest up now, you deserved it."
"I'm glad…" Momo said, smiling herself before passing out.
Author's Notes: The fallout between Tsunade and Sakura that was mentioned will be addressed in chapter 14. Other details may also be revealed in an upcoming chapter, or possibly an eventual prequel or series of prequels.
I hope no one was traumatized too badly by the Clown nightmare scene. The sequence is also dependent on the technique using the victim's own thoughts and fears against them, whereas canon seems to suggest Kakashi directly controlled what Sakura saw when he used it on her. I think this version is more interesting, and one of the few times I break from the established rules of canon.