Broken Faith 18
The Tournament Begins
Disclaimer : Dont own anything. Naruto – Masashi Kishimoto, Negima – Akamatsu Ken.
Ah... this is a fast update isn't it? I didn't plan to release this so early but because this fic represents two milestones for me so I couldn't help it. One, this fic is the one where I finally break the 200k word barrier. Two, and more importantly, NightDranzer let me know that Broken Faith was finally mentioned on Tvtropes. Ok, so it's just a small blurb on tvtropes, but I'm getting there. Let's hope this fic gets its own page soon. So those of you that want to thank someone for the fast update, thank the guy, whoever he is although it's probably a reader here, for it.
Oh and since this fic was updated so soon, the next one won't come till it hits 550 reviews. *wink*
Soundtrack List
Persona 3 OST – Living in Determination – Iwatodai Station Remix –
Persona 3 OST – Deep Breath Deep Breath Reincarnation
****Broken Faith****
Play Persona 3 OST – Living in Determination – Iwatodai Station Remix -
"Wha-Hu-How?"
The old man chuckled and waved his hand. Two comfortable seats, reminiscent of the ones in his office appeared out of thin air, "Come and sit with an old man Naruto."
Dumfounded, the blonde followed the suggestion without hesitation.
They sat in silence, the old man serenely observing the wide array of emotions that were flashing across the blonde's feature, prominent of all, confusion and happiness.
"It's been a long time hasn't it?"
The blonde's face blanked as he clamped down on his rampant emotions, he looked down at his feet and chuckled lowly, "Yeah... I made Chuunin then Jonin a few years after you died you know."
Sarutobi smiled softly, "I had no doubt you could do it."
Naruto smiled at the old man's faith in him, "It wasn't easy. But I didn't mind. I even found someone to love."
The third Hokage smiled proudly, "I know, she was very beautiful. I'm sorry we never got to meet and that I let myself be blinded by my prejudice of her."
"I think she would have been happy to meet you too."
The two of them sat and quietly reminisced of better times together and pranks which Naruto had done in his youth when Naruto suddenly blurted out, "I'm an orphan, not a bastard." Naruto looked at his body strangely while Sarutobi looked equally confused, "What was that about?"
"Dunno, just felt the urge to say it. Like somebody was having a 'Naruto is a bastard' rant again."
Sarutobi sweat dropped, "Do you get those kind of rants very often?"
"Meh. Sometimes. Don't know why but everyone I meet has an episode sooner or later."
Sarutobi laughed loudly.
Eventually they ran out of things to talk about and Sarutobi's expression fell when he knew it was time to do what he came for, "I'm sorry."
Naruto looked up in confusion, "For what?"
"I know you never really forgave me." The old man solemnly said without preamble.
"N-no, I understood. I mea-"
"Naruto." The old man firmly stopped the blonde with one disapproving word and stared silently at him.
Naruto sighed and slumped into his seat, "No I didn't." He soberly confessed, "I knew and understood. I could even respect the decision, but I couldn't respect the result. After I found out, I couldn't hate you, but I couldn't completely forgive you either. Why didn't you tell me? Even if I was flighty and an idiot at the time, all you had to do was make me promise not to tell. No matter how much of a flight risk I was, you knew I never broke my promises."
The old man drew a deep breath from his pipe before blowing it out, "Ah... I haven't had a good smoke in ages."
Naruto snorted in amusement.
"In short? I was making excuses. Even the fact that you were so... attention seeking was my fault and something I could have stopped easily, but I wanted any reason, any excuse, no matter how flimsy not to tell you. Not for the Good of Konoha or any reason like that. I just didn't want to tell you because I couldn't face myself, I couldn't face the disappointment I had become, by telling you about your heritage, your burden, it would put the spotlight squarely on the mistakes I made, forcing me to face them. And I couldn't do it. Everytime you smiled so brightly at me, it killed me on the inside knowing you trusted the one person that was causing you pain. Yet everytime you were hurt, I couldn't bring myself to lift your burden. I'm sorry."
Tears quietly slid down the old man's face.
"I wanted to tell you so long. Even when I was dying, I wanted to ask for your forgiveness. I wanted to grovel and beg for forgiveness, forgiveness for hurting and sacrificing you, the purest person left in Konoha, for something which no longer mattered in the end anyway."
Naruto kneeled beside the crying old man and hugged the frail looking Sandaime while tears ran down his cheeks as well.
"You saw?"
Sarutobi nodded sadly, "It hurt me, knowing that even though I worked so hard for the people of Konoha, they had become so depraved and self serving, especially Kakashi, but I was glad you found people you could trust. People you could have faith in. That not everyone in Konoha was completely corrupted."
He smiled at the blonde through wet eyes, "Though when you decided to impale a few council members it didn't really help the argument against betraying you, you know." He furtively looked around and gave Naruto a thumbs up.
They both laughed before becoming solemn again.
I'm sorry you suffered because of a stupid old man Naruto."
"It's alright... I knew, I mean after I realized it was the best way, I wasn't really angry anymore. Better you then Danzo, better you then slavery. I knew how much you loved Konoha. Knowing what they became in the end would have hurt you far more than it did to me, I didn't really care about them because I knew what was going to happen anyway. To me, it was just another bridge for me to cross," He shook his head, "In the end, it's not that I didn't forgive you for causing me suffering, I just wanted to talk to you one last time, to hear you say yourself, to hear your reasons from your own lips. Just some closure to the one of the best times in my younger days you know."
He drew a deep breath and smiled brightly at the old man, "So I forgive you jiji."
The Sandaime gave him an equally cheesy smile and thumbs up, tears started to flow down both their cheeks as the blonde stated to fade away with the sound of chains shattering.
Sandaime smiled as the blonde looked at his fading body in confusion, in the last few seconds, Naruto's lean mature face was replaced by a chubby innocent one he had so many years ago, the same confused, innocent face he had with those squinty fox eyes that looked at him for answers.
When the blonde was completely gone, the old man sighed and fell back into his seat before drawing another deep breath of his pipe and wiped his tears away.
"Thank you. That was my one greatest regret."
"No thanks are needed. This is as much for him as it was for you; we simply thought this was a good time to do it. Are you ready to go?"
"Yeah... I'm ready."
Sarutobi smiled at the barren sky as he faded away as well, he knew Naruto would have a good life.
****Broken Faith****
Konoka was reading a chick flick, having woke earlier from her rest. Asuna and Setsuna had already gone on their patrols but she wasn't inclined to join them. Preferring to relax instead, so here she was with a nice little romance book in one hand and running her fingers through a sleeping Naruto's blonde locks. The blonde had started turning and tossing in his sleep sometime during her book but seemed to calm down at her touch, and Konoka honestly admitted with a small smile that it wasn't a terrible burden either.
She had just reached the good part when she heard a slight sniffing sound. Looking away from her guilty pleasure she noticed tears falling from the blonde. Immediately she dropped the book on a bedside table and climbed on to the bed to hold the blonde. Concern filling her face, she wondered what was going on.
Blue eyes snapped open blearily and focused on her face, "Ko-konoka?"
"Naruto? Are you alright?" she asked worriedly.
Instead of replying the blonde buried his face in her lap and started to sob.
"Naruto?"
"I-I'm sorry, but just let me stay this way for a while."
Konoka didn't say anything but shifted into a more comfortable position for both of them, running her fingers through his hair again.
Once his tears had subsided Konoka warily tried to find out what was wrong again, saying that it wasn't normal to see the normally strong blonde break down like that was an understatement, and she was curious to know what could affect him like that, "You alright?" she asked softly.
"Ye-yeah. I'm sorry about your..." He gestured at the tear marks on her kimono shamefacedly.
"That's not important, you were crying," She said bluntly.
"Naruto smiled slightly, "It was nothing. I just had a good dream."
Konoka gave him a look that said she obviously didn't think it was just a good dream but let sleeping dogs lie.
"What time is it? And what happened? Last I remember was Asuna wishing err... for me to kiss people I cared about... Did anyone get hurt?" Naruto asked urgently, albeit with a slight blush.
"No, nothing worse than broken bones and a few concussions. But..." She giggled slightly, "Hmm... I didn't know you cared for me like that, it was a real shocker you know. You took my first kiss." The princess grinned slyly at him.
The blonde averted his eyes with a great blush but before long a troubled expression spread on his face, he hadn't meant to kiss her. He couldn't encourage her... for various reasons, "Hime... you know I can't be with you like that."
Konoka stiffened in reply, causing Naruto to sigh, "Look I'm stupid, and I misunderstand alot of things, but at the risk of sounding presumptous, I know you never made it a secret that you liked me. But I tried to discourage you softly; I really can't be with you like that."
Konoka's expression steadily started to get stonier, "Oh? And why not?"
Warning bells started ringing in Naruto's head but being the idiot he usually was when he just woke up he ignored them and forged ahead anyway, to him; this was a good a time as any to let the girl down gently, "Look, I know that you liked me because you thought I was strong, I get that, girls like dark, handsome and strong men, God knows how well I know that, but you're still young. Just because I'm flashy and powerful or something, isn't a good reason to like someone me."
Konoka pursed her lips as and didn't say anything but simply gestured for him to continue.
Naruto sighed again, it didn't seem to be working so he tried another tactic, "Simply put, you are almost royalty Konoka. You are related to two of five Magic population leaders, both of whom are good friends and people I trust, something I won't betray by cheating on their daughter and granddaughter. People expect you to find a suitable husband that can love you with everything in his heart and settle down. Someone like me? all I know is fighting Konoka, I can't give you the life of a princess. Even though I got a second chance at life, I still fight because that's all I can do, all I knowhow to do, so the least I could do is put that useless talent to better use rather than be another mercenary. I can't take care of you Konoka, you don't deserve that kind of life."
Konoka's expression progressively got stonier. Forget bells ringing in his head, they were fucking klaxons now.
"I see. Is there any other reason?"
"Um... You're just 14? And I refuse to cheat on Chachamaru?"
"She's literally just three years old." Konoka pointed out.
"Ok... I just won't cheat on Chachamaru. Gynoid or not, I won't hurt her." Naruto firmly stated.
The klaxons started wailing something that sounded suspiciously like a funeral dirge.
"I see... Very well. Is there anything else you wish to say?"
"Um... I was going to try and persuade you to join the Martial Arts tournament with me, Asuna and Setsuna?"
Konoka abruptly dropped Naruto's head from her lap as she stood up, "Understood. I'll see you later at the tournament." Before sedately leaving the room with a straight back.
Naruto watched her go with a rather sad expression before it morphed into something resembling relief, he didn't like hurting people like that. scratch that, he didn't like hurting her. He wouldn't have made an issue and would have been content to let their relationship remain in its status quo, but with the kissing incident, he didn't want to give her false hope that he could start a relationship with her. Whether or not he survived he was going to remain loyal to Chachamaru. Better he hurt her now than lead her along like an indecisive idiot that couldn't make up his mind.
Then again what he just did probably wasn't wise either.
He slammed the back of his head on the wooden headboard to stop the klaxons. Why couldn't she just be another tsundere like Ayaka or Asuna? He complained in his mind. After dating Akane, and she admitted she was a tsundere herself, he knew how to deal with those very easily, if you've seen one Tsundere, you've seen them all. Anything else was... er... gravy?
Shaking the weird thoughts off, the blonde wearily got up with a sigh and picked up his cloak and leapt out the open window, leaving behind a thank you and I'm sorry note on the bedside table. She probably wouldn't appreciate seeing his face right now. That and he wanted to go apologize to Konoe about the inevitable blow up when Konoka told him what he did, as well as pay for the damages to the rooftops. That promised to be an awkward conversation.
****Broken Faith****
Play Persona 3 OST – Deep Breath Deep Breath Reincarnation
"Nii-san!" the blonde perked up as he heard his name being called among the crowd of martial artists waiting for the tournament to start.
"Negi, sup?"
"You here for the tournament too? Asuna, Konoka and Setsuna are already here, they're over there. It surprised me! I didn't think they would join, but even Konoka joined."
Naruto averted his eyes guiltily while Akako in fox form licked his cheek sadly.
Kotarou ran up to them, "Hehehe! You joining too Kinpatsu-san? Yeah! More strong people to fight! Just a small tournament my ass!"
Naruto glanced questioningly at Negi and received a shrug in return while Kotarou started rambling about beating Naruto and showing his Chizu-nee and Natsumi-chan what a man in battle really looked like, "Oh that reminds me." He eyed the small boy with a gimlet eye, "You still owe me an explanation about being in more than one place at once. It doesn't seem like you're using clones either."
Negi glanced around before shushing the blonde and pulling him into an alley, "It's a secret Nii-san, and you can't tell anybody ok? Remember when we helped Chao-san?"
Naruto scratched his chin, he vaguely remembered something but put it down to another less significant thing he had done, "Yeah, a little. Why?"
The boy held out a weird round thing for Naruto to see, "This clock lets me rewind time for at least 24 hours. That's how I've been going around multiple places at the same time. I live one day before turning back time and reliving it again!" the boy stated excitedly.
Naruto looked at the item weirdly, "Time Manipulation Device? Well... it's not like I haven't heard of those, but you sure it works right? No bad side effects?"
Negi himself started to look troubled, "I-I'm not sure... there hasn't been anything bad that happened yet. At most I feel tired because the device feeds off my power to work."
"Eh... if you feel it's alright then do as you like. But I'd prefer not to use it. Time isn't something I'd like to mess around with, God knows the last time I did; I nearly stopped myself from being born..."
"Eh? Um..." Negi started to look worriedly at the device.
Naruto laughed it off loudly, "As long as you don't do something too stupid it should be alright."
"O-ok... By the way did you do something to Konoka-san? She seems a little weird..." What Negi meant to say was intense but Naruto didn't know that.
"Err... I spoke to her about something. It wasn't a pleasant topic."
"Ehh? What was it? I wanna know." Negi pouted at the blonde, who just smiled at him and waved it off.
"C'mon, I think the tournament is starting."
"Ok nii-san."
The both of them walked to where the rest of them were when Naruto quirked an eye at those present, "Takamichi? You joining as well?"
"Naruto. I heard about your... um... problem." The teacher grinned widely, "Pity I wasn't there to watch, I'd have brought a recorder around just for shits and giggles."
"Ass."
"Idiot." Takahata shot back just as casually, "But your inclinations towards my ass aside, yes, I'm joining. I promised to have a real fight with Negi after all." He smiled kindly at a blushing Negi while Naruto just ruffled the boy's hair with a grin, "Becareful Takamichi, Negi won't go down so easily if you let your guard down."
"Mou... Nii-san!" the boy protested with a pout but blushed at the blonde's faith in him.
Asuna quietly listened to their conversation and did a double take at the two men before rubbing her eyes slightly when the memory of her painting off Takamichi and Naruto flashed in her mind unbidden. The way they stood beside each other and bantered and teased Negi who was in between them was eerily similar to her picture. She shivered a little. What the hell was wrong with her?
Just then a familiar voice rang out on the speaker, "Kazumi?"
"Students of Mahora and visitors from outside the school! Welcome!" an announcer's voice boomed over the speakers. "Welcome to the resurrection of the 'Mahora Martial Arts Tournament!' Thank you for gathering on such short notice!" The group looked towards the stage and saw Kazumi in a sleeveless white and red dress that ended mid thigh, along with matching gloves that end up just below her shoulder and knee high boots. "The winning prize is ten million yen! Please cheer for this famous event!"
"Now, let's hear an opening speech from the person who bought this event! The most popular student int he academy, the mistress of 'Chao Bao Zi'; Chao Lingshen!" Kazumi flamboyantly introduced the chinese girl. Chao was dressed in traditional Chinese clothing that had dragons on it for design.
"I have bought this for one tournament for one reason," Chao stated. "No matter if it is from the outer or inner world, I want to see the strongest person it has to offer. That is my reason. 20 years ago this event was to allow people from the inner world challenge each other. But because of small video camera being developed and the number of styles it is used the event had drastically shrunk down. "
Naruto frowned slightly, a slight buzz had started to develop at the back of his head, it didn't seem like a migraine, more like something familiar, but he couldn't remember what. Something wasn't adding up.
"But now I intend to revive the most exiting 'Mahora Martial Arts Tournament'! It is forbidden to use projectiles and bladed weapons! Curses are also forbidden! Any other techniques are okay as long as they do not fall under those two rules!" Chao declared with a sly grin.
The buzzing grew stronger and Naruto rubbed his temples. Bleh, he wasn't going to think about it for now.
"You guys go ahead, I have a slight headache and I want to drop Akako off with Chachamaru."
Unseen to him, Konoka's lips tightened as she watched the blonde walk off, petting the fox on his shoulders, "Konoka-ojou sama? Are you alright? Are you sure you want to join this tournament? I mean..."
She smiled softly at the swordsgirl, causing Setsuna to get red and fluster, "I'm alright Se-chan. I can't quit. I have something I want to prove."
Setsuna looked worriedly at her princess before reluctantly acquiescing.
With Naruto
Spotting a girl with light green hair and wearing a traditional kimono, he sneaked up behind her before swiftly sweeping her off her feet.
"Naruto!" she reprimanded quietly but there was a hint of amusement in her voice.
The small fox clambered down between the two and quietly transformed in a small young red haired girl that jumped on the green haired girl with a happy cry, "Mama! Miss you!"
Chachamaru smiled softly and hugged the girl, "I missed you too, Akako. I'm sorry... Mama was busy today." She hesitated a little, not used to referring to herself in such an affectionate way, "I'll spend tomorrow with you ok?"
Akako smiled brightly, "Hai, mama!"
"Now let's go find seats and cheer for... Papa alright?" she blushed a little.
Naruto smiled and kissed Chachamaru on the cheeks and left a big sloppy one on Akako, making her giggle loudly. "Eww... Papa!" Akako pouted.
"I'll win this for both of you ok?"
"Hai Papa! Win Win!"
Naruto grinned before jumping away to join the line where everyone seemed to finding out their turns.
Landing stealthily beside a cloaked and hooded person he elbowed the man, "I'm surprised you manage to get away from your otaku tendencies to come to the tournament."
"Hmph, old men like us have our faults. Yours just isn't as obvious as mine. That reminds me, Evangeline is here as well."
"Yeah I know, she was the one that made me join," then Naruto sweat dropped, "By the way? It really feels weird being called old you know. Inside I've only been active for 17 years, so it doesn't really count right?" he pleaded with a pained face.
The both of them laughed, "What are you really doing here anyway?"
"I have some business... that and I have a gift for a certain Asuna Kagurazaka."
Naruto stared at him, trying to discern his motives, "Whatever it is, you won't hurt her right?"
"You wound me with your lack of faith." Kunel Sanders replied dryly.
"The only thing I have faith in you to do is be a perverted old man with a swimsuit fetish. Wait scratch that, you have a fetish for anything that remotely qualifies as kinky."
"Touche."
The both of them received their ballots, "Hmm... two people per group will pass into the real tournament," the blonde scratched his head as he glanced at the hooded man's ballot, "Oh look. We're in the same group. At least we won't have to fight each other right now."
"Agreed. The best should be saved for last. Meaning me."
"Dream on."
The two of them smiled as they walked to their stage.
Looking around he noted there was something fishy going on. Then again it might have just been coincidence, but everyone that was acquainted with each other was fortunate enough that they didn't have to fight someone they knew today. Konoka was in the same group as Negi, Setsuna was with Asuna, Kaede was with Kotarou, Mana with Ku Fei, Evangeline was with Takamichi and the blonde haired girl in black from the Mage meeting was with her red haired Kouhai. On the flipside, there wasn't anybody else of note except a suspicious blonde in a blue trench coat with a mask.
A tap on his shoulder brought him out of his reverie, "Shall we get started?"
"Started?"
The hooded man gestured at the 28 people that shared the stage with the two of them in group G.
"Ah... You want to do the honours or shall I?"
The hooded man shrugged casually and Naruto sighed, "You lazy bastard."
Snapping his fingers, his eyes blazed purple for a split second and quietly muttered, "Shinra Tensei."
Everybody on stage was violently thrown from the stage without preamble, leaving only the blonde, the hooded man and a stunned indigo haired boy with messy hair.
"Wha-what happened? Tha-that was a mistake right? Hahaha It must be. They must have left because they knew they couldn't beat me! Yeah! You two old men over there get ready to lose!"
Naruto glanced at Albiero, "You want to take him?"
"Nah. I don't want to dirty my robes."
"Wha-what are you two talking about! Don't ignore me dammit!"
Naruto glanced around the arena.
"Fight me! I am the great Shinji Mato-stomp-uouououh..."
Naruto had stomped on a loose floorboard, causing the other end to snap right into the indigo haired boy's privates.
The boy's eyes crossed before rolling up into his head and his jaw slackened at the amazing amount of pain before slumping to his knees, clutching his balls and started foaming at the mouth before ending his performance by falling flat on his face.
"Heh. Points to you for shutting him up in the most insulting way possible."
"I live to please." Naruto smirked at the man.
Just then a voice washed over the audience, it seemed a lot of them had been stunned into silence, Kazumi wasn't much better, "Wha-what is this? Group G is already over? What an upset! Two young men beat 28 others so easily! Clap loudly for Naruto Namikaze, the hunky, only male student of 3-A and... Kunel Sanders?"
The hooded man cheerfully waved at the applause while Naruto grumbled that the bastard hadn't done anything. Said bastard smirked at him.
"Oh yeah, what was that guy's name again?"
"Shinji something. Why?"
"Nothing. I just wanted to commit the look on his face as his balls were crushed into my memory; his attitude rubbed me the wrong way."
"Right... You're scaring me with that creepy laugh please shut up now."
"I can't help it..." Naruto pouted childishly, "He reminded me of someone else who's balls I crushed. Ah... good times."
****Broken Faith****
"Nii-san!" Negi yelled cheerfully as he barrelled into the blonde who was standing beside a green haired girl carrying a red haired child, "You passed as well!"
"Congratulations Negi-sensei."
Negi looked up, "Chachamaru? What are you doing here?"
"Ah. I was cheering for Naruto and Master."
Akako yawned on her shoulder, "If you'll excuse me, its Akako's bedtime. Naruto are you coming?"
The blonde leaned over and kissed her cheek, "You go ahead. I'll be there in a bit. I have to wait for tomorrow's fights to be announced."
Negi's jaw dropped as he watched the gynoid agree and shyly return the kiss before sedately walking away.
"Nii-nii-niisan?"
"Hmm?"
"Yo-yo-Chacha..."
Naruto sweat dropped as he saw Negi's head smoking, "We're dating, is something wrong?"
"N-no... I didn't ex-expect.. I mean..." he discreetly glanced at Asuna and adopted a troubled expression but kept his silence while Naruto shared his troubled looks and quietly added, "I don't want to hurt Asuna, and I won't willingly do it either, Negi. You know that."
"Ye-yeah... but I didn't realize, you know. I'm sorry I dragged you on that date."
"Eh... no worries. I'll have to apologize later for that kissing thing anyway."
"I guess."
"Negi-sensei! Naruto! Why are you two over here alone looking so somber? Shouldn't the both of you be more cheerful since you qualified in the Tournament?" the Narutaki twins yelled loudly as they bounced over to the two.
Naruto glanced at Negi and received a troubled nod in return, nothing more would be said until Naruto could resolve the situation. Sadly Negi couldn't see any way to resolve the problem without someone being hurt. That being said, this wasn't something he should be involved in either, in the end the only thing he could do was trust his nii-san to do the best thing.
"Nothing Fuuka, Fumika." He gave them a strained smile, "Come on, let's go. It looks like they're going to announce tomorrow's fights."
Fuuka shared a worried look with Fumika, something was wrong with the males of 3-A.
"All right everyone the main matches start tomorrow at 8 AM at the Tatsumiya Shrine's Tournament stage," Kazumi excitedly shouted, drawing the suspense out as much as she dared, "The draws for the matches tomorrow have been revealed. So here they are!" their hostess loudly declared as behind her, a white cloth dramatically fell to reveal the fights of the following day. "The fights will go as stated and the same rules as the ones in the qualifiers still apply!"
Bracket A:
Tanaka vs Takane D Goodman
Negi Springfield vs Takahata Takamichi
Asuna Kagurazaka vs Setsuna Sakurazaki
Naruto Namikaze vs Konoka Konoe
Evangeline A. K. McDowell vs Yamashita Keiichi
Bracket B:
Mei Sakura vs Kotarou Murakami
Daigouin vs KuNel Sanders
Kaede Nagase vs N.U.
Mana Tatsumiya vs Ku Fei
"WHAT! I'M AGAINST TAKAMICHI!" Negi shouted as he panicked. Konoka and Naruto stared at each other, one awkward, one intense before moving to chatter with Setsuna and Asuna who were both promising each other to fight each other with their very best.
Naruto's gaze turned to KuNel. The two looked at each other in the eye, "Remember, don't hurt her."
Albiero smirked before nodding and walking away.
Kaede muttered as she glanced at her opponent, the masked blonde in a blue trench coat that had qualified quietly with KuNel Sander's opponent, "I've never seen him around, his fights were precise but utterly lacking in any distinguishing features. His signature is muted as well. This might be a good fight after all." She turned to Mana and KuFei, "Do your best both of you, I want to fight either one of you. Make it a good one and show me how much both of you have improved eh?"
"Hmph, a ninja like you shouldn't talk so much." Mana grinned at her best friend.
"Yatta! I get to fight Mana then Kaede de-aru!"
Evangeline just complained, "What? I have to fight some no name idiot? What a waste of time."
"Ma, ma, Eva-chan. Look at your round, it's in the more highly anticipated one, plus you get to fight either Negi, Takamichi or myself before personally dealing with the pervert."
Evangeline looked again, "Hehehehe..."
Naruto sweat dropped at the evil laugh coming from the small vampire. The bouncing doll with a bloody grin didn't help her image either.
"Oh, and if we fight, no magic or jutsus alright?"
"What? Why!"she demanded.
"I don't know..." Naruto hesitantly spoke before motioning for everyone else to join him and Evangeline, "Something doesn't feel right. I'm not complaining but don't you think it's too much of a coincidence nearly all of us are acquainted and yet somehow, all of us who are capable of fighting on a level far beyond normal people managed to avoid fighting each other until a time where our skills can be on full display?"
Takahata scratched his stubble, "Agreed. So no magic or anything too flashy?" he asked while looking at Naruto for confirmation.
"It would be best. Personally I don't care about magic being revealed or otherwise, both sides have good arguments, but something about this just doesn't sit right with me, and it's making me edgy."
Takahata would never say it, but among the people he trusted, Naruto was one of those whose instincts he knew he could count on to guard his back the most. Instincts honed on a ruthless battlefield that exceeded even the ones in his youth.
Flashback
A black masked man turned to the smoking man beside him. "Are you sure this is the spot?"
The man stubbed his cigarette before replying, "Yeah. The kidnappers are confirmed by the Italian Mage Association. The reason they called us in was because you are known for accomplishing missions with zero casualties and the victims are under aged girls from our territories." Noting his companion's hesitation he voiced his question, "What is it, You've asked me that question at least twice already. Is something wrong?"
"It's not wrong per say. Assuming it really was a kidnapping," he gestured at the big mansion his team was camped outside, "I doubt the culprits would hide out in such a big mansion. Even if it is out of the way."
"I suppose one of them may have gotten too rich and decided to splurge, and it's out of the way like you said, it fits the profile of a high class slavery outfit doesn't it?"
The masked man glanced at the lit mansion again. "Yes it does... but something bugs me. Especially the Italian Mage Leader."
Takamichi laughed, "The seventh, while he does give off a slimy feeling is known for being blunt. And he is one of the more powerful mages around, getting his position through pure power. Besides it was formally requested, I don't think they'll do anything."
"I see..."
A few hours later
6 dark figures snuck into the building.
A masked man, Takahata and a three other mages.
The masked man signalled for the other members to scout out the rooms in the offhand corridors while he and Takamichi scoped out the main hall.
Just as the two of them stealthily entered the main hall the feeling of wards being erected caused both men to stiffen immediately as bars crashed down on every door and window loudly.
Scratching the back of his head the masked man sighed while Takamichi chuckled, "Ok. Next time I'm not betting against you. Paying for your dinner for the next month is more than enough."
Slowly the sound of someone clapping filled the hall as bright lights lit all around the hall, "I'm amazed. We didn't even know you had infiltrated this building until you managed to get into the inner sanctum."
The masked man sighed again, "Good day to you too Settimo. I really shouldn't be surprised. The profiles you sent us about the kidnappers didn't match the high profile mansion they were supposedly hiding in. They were rich, yes, but they didn't get where they were by being stupid and hiding where every idiot could take a pot shot at them either. Instead the stage was set for something else more suited to the blunt but slimy tactics you're known for when you want to make an example out of your enemies."
A man walked out dressed in a black suit and top hat with a prominent mustachio, with at least 20 muscular guards around him.
"Oh? You guessed it sooner than I expected. I'm really sorry about this, but our Mage Association, weakened in the war, really couldn't afford a prominent mage like you to rise from the ranks of the Eastern and Western Mage Associations."
"So this is a power struggle issue then?"
The moustachioed man smiled dryly, "As expected of someone like you to notice immediately."
"You do realize your Association sent in an official request right? And if we don't get back safely, your reputation will be under fire and will most likely face an investigation? And Takamichi can you stop smoking for one god damned second?" he grumbled.
His companion just snorted before leisurely taking another drag.
"The papers requesting the mission have already been disposed of by a friend. Officially, you and your men are simply vacationing on the Catafalco Islands but were unfortunately assassinated by a rogue Eastern mage. Without the official documents, nothing can be done even if we are linked to your deaths."
Instead of the reply he was expecting the masked man held out one hand to the man with stubble next to him. Takahata sighed and slapped an IOU into his gloved palm. "Ok, ok, you win. But two months is pushing it."
Settimo tensed, something was wrong, "What's going on? The both of you are surrounded and your three companions are already apprehended."
He didn't get the reply he was expecting, all he got was a whispered, "Boom." And the entire mansion was rocked by explosions.
"Wha-what's going on! What have the two of you done?"
A lean young man dressed impeccably in a suit that contradicted his messy brown hair strode into the hall through the doors which had been blasted open by a man with frizzy gray hair, "Uncle. What is the meaning of this?" the young man quietly asked.
"Decimo! How did you get here?"
"Naruto-san felt something wasn't right, so he sent a missive to our Headquarters." the young man paused before giving the masked man who seemed to be shuffling his feet in an embarassed manner, a completely deadpan stare.
"Sorry, calling it a missive is an understatement. He sent a clone that somehow traveled 500 miles from here to our Main Headquarters in under 3 hours over land and water, bypassed all official channels and communication protocols, slipped through our ward scheme like it wasn't there and evaded 130 individuals affiliated with our Association, including our entire Security Force. I found him drinking a bottle of 1978 Montrachet wine while chatting with my wife about the finer points of miso ramen in my own private quarters."
Takamichi : face palmed.
Naruto : "Um... Ehe?"
Decimo drew a deeeep calming breath and continued, "Anyway, once his clone was finally sober enough to tell us what happened, I checked the veracity of the missions the Italy branch requested. I was surprised to find that your branch asked for their assistance in capturing a group of criminals we had already apprehended barely a week ago. I barely managed to get here in time with my Guardians, but when we did, we found out from the three remaining mages outside that Naruto-san had already snuck in with Takahata-san and his clones as a diversion, to spring the trap so to speak, because he was bored." He gave the blonde who was sheepishly scratching his head a dry look.
"I was doing what was right for our Mage Association! We cannot let the East and West outshine us!"
The newcomer looked sadly at the man, "Uncle... the war is over. There is no need for unnecessary power grabs anymore... Instead we need to work together with all of them. We're all mages sharing this one Earth."
"Damn you and your pacifist policies! Get them!"
"Sawada-san?"
The young man gazed sadly at the masked blonde in the black clothes he had taken to using as his mission uniform, "Do as you wish Naruto-san, but I only ask you do not kill them. No matter what, they are family."'
"Understood. Oh by the way?"
"Yes?"
"Do you like poodles?"
End Flashback
Evangeline hid a grin; the blonde was far more perceptive than most people. Meh, then again if she had to deal with only brainless idiots all the time it wouldn't be fun.
"Anyways, I may be over thinking this, so whatever. I'll see you guys tomorrow. Eva-chan, you coming?"
She shook her head, "There's going to be a tournament qualifier after party. Sake! Takahata! Come with me and don't be a sissy!" she loudly ordered the teacher.
Takahata sweat dropped before turning to Asuna, "Don't forget our promise alright? See you." The stubbled teacher left, following the cheerful vampire with a wave to everyone else. The girl watched her crush leave with a healthy glow on her cheeks.
Konoka sidled up to her side, "Hmhmhm... it looks like Asuna is finally growing up."
"Gyahhh! I-Its nothing like that!"
Konoka continued to harass Asuna all the way to their class's finishing party where Negi realized he had been side tracked by Mana and Yue, resulting in another day of no sleep, spent with Ayaka and the rest of his class.
Although he did recognize the same hooded man in the Martial Arts Tournament that Naruto-nii san seemed to know giggling in a corner during the cosplay competition.
****Broken Faith****
Naruto yawned as he stretched on his sun chair and shielded his eyes from the artificial sunlight. A snuffle from something resting on his chest drew his attention away from the window to his chest and its occupant. Running his fingers through Akako's long hair he smiled. The girl had tired herself out playing with Asuna, Setsuna and Konoka on the beach before falling asleep on him.
He sighed; things were a little tense between him and the three girls, especially after his inadvertent admission that he cared for them during the kissing incident. More particularly Konoka, but honestly he had no idea what to do. Nonetheless he was very grateful that the three of them were mature enough not to place the burden of that tension and awkwardness between them on an innocent Akako and not treat her any different. He kissed his sleeping daughter's forehead; she was so adorable when she yawned.
"Nii-san!"
"Yeah?" he lazily replied.
"We were talking about magic and Ki. I know you use something other than those so I was curious."
Gently getting up and laying Akako on the cushiony sun chair, he moved to where the others were, "So? What was the question?"
"We were curious, exactly what kind of energy that you use."
Naruto scratched his chin, absently noting that he needed to shave soon, "You already know that magic is using spiritual energy to control the latent energy in the air right? And Ki is the burning of one's internal energy?"
Chamo and Negi nodded while Kotarou just grunted irritably, he really wasn't interested in semantics but knew better than to say it in front of the blonde and receive another mouthful of dirt and lecture about brains and power. Asuna, Setsuna and Konoka just listened intently.
"Basically, energy in the world is divided into three broad categories, it gets more specific but I don't know enough to talk about the more esoteric versions. Spiritual energy; energy of the mind and soul. Ki; Energy of the physical body. Natural energy or energy in the atmosphere which is present in fire, water, air, earth, basically your environs.
Setsuna, Mana, KuFei and Kaede are all examples of people that use Ki while you and Evangeline are mages. They burn their internal energy to give them a boost in abilities. On the other hand, magic, the kind you and Evangeline use, uses spiritual energy to command and shape the energy in the environment. The one I use, chakra, combines spiritual energy and physical energy. That's about it in summary."
"Yeah, we knew that, but Chamo was talking about combining different energies. I was wondering if ratio would affect it, like more spiritual and less natural. Everybody combines it differently right? So how come the magic comes out the same?" Negi questioned.
"There's a difference of course, Negi you can sense when others are using that energy right?"
The boy nodded excitedly.
"Well, when you sense them, how can you tell who is using that energy?"
The boy scrunched his eyebrows in thought; he never really considered that before, "I don't know... it just feels like them I suppose."
"Correct. Basically everybody is different, so when they... activate it, for lack of a better word, like say someone who is a intellectual thinker, like you, that person might place more emphasis on the spiritual part. But that's where it gets complicated, there's a slight difference, your personality, attitude, the way you think and your affinity, they all play a role. Everybody combines their energies in different ways, and that's how you sense them; in the subtle difference of the way they form their magic or ki."
"Like say when you first met KuFei, you realize she is an energetic person, and her Ki burns passionately, different from say... Mana whose Ki burns more calmly. So next time you meet them, you can tell the difference between their signatures. It's still the same thing; it just feels different, like a thumb print so to speak. In general, all mages use magic, but the way they express that magic is different. For example, Eastern or Asian mages use charms and curses, Western or European mages use chants and spells, South European mages call their magic; flames and they generally manipulate them in their pure forms, here I quote a friend that told me this, 'mostly because they are so close to the catholic centre of the world, so magic is especially persecuted there, hence the change in names.' There, their mages blend in with the criminal elements of their population to hide from the Church, so if you meet a South European Mage, just because he calls himself a member of the mafia, it doesn't mean he's a bad guy. There is another two, the British Magical Government and the Australian one, but I don't know enough about them to describe it to you other then the fact that, and here I quote my friend again, 'The British Mages are backasswards perverts."
Naruto paused, "Anyway, that's why most mages can't sense me at first, the different combination of energy I use is on a different spectrum and hence they don't know how to look for it."
Negi jumped excitedly, "Can I learn how to use chakra as well? I mean I have access to both Ki and Spiritual power like you right?"
At this Kotarou perked up as well, anything that could make him stronger got his attention.
"Well... you can I suppose. The age limit to learn how to use chakra is about 11, which was mostly why," He looked at Konoka, Setsuna and Asuna, "I said I didn't have anything to teach either of you."
Looking back at Negi, he continued, "Think of the energy in your body as two different pipes. Willpower in one pipe, and Ki in another pipe. You need to learn how to intertwine the pipes to create chakra. Once you get too old, the pipes are too set in stone to manipulate anymore, so you can't force them together, therefore you can't make chakra. Since chakra is more tightly tied to your internal energies than magic which is part internal and external, we don't need to use words to channel that energy like magic users do, just hand signs, internal commands so to speak. People like me, whose pipes are already so intertwined cannot separate the spiritual part from the physical part, hence I'll never be able to use the kind of spells you do."
Kotarou high fived Negi, "Can we learn? Please?"
"Yeah sure, but there are downsides to chakra as well you know."
Negi deflated, "Downsides? What downsides?"
"Think of it this way, you use Ki. Which means you burn your body's energy. Once you get low, your body is tired. But your mind has not expended its reserves yet so you can still think somewhat clearly, with magic, it happens in reverse, your mind gets tired but your body can still move through muscle memory. Now with chakra, the results of my jutsus are more potent than your magic, but if you burn both reserves too much, what happens?"
Negi thought for a while, "You get tired, mentally and physically?"
"Correct. Burn too much and you will be useless on the battlefield. And if you force it even further, you can even die. Do you still want to learn?"
"Um... Can I think about it?"
"Sure. There's no harm in learning about it, as long as you don't overdo it."
Asuna snorted, "Knowing Negi, overdoing it will probably be the least of his problems."
Negi pouted and Naruto laughed.
****Broken Faith****
"Good morning contestants!" a Kazumi's voice rang out through the speakers of the room. All the contestants looked towards the front of the room, where she and Chao were standing along with the board of who was fighting who. They were currently wearing the same things from last night, though they were in different colours. Where Kazumi's was white, it was now black and Chao's was white instead of red.
Asakura chuckled sheepishly at the grumbles she received about her extra loud greeting, "Sorry everyone," Kazumi apologized sheepishly. "Anyway, welcome and thanks for gathering! Thirty minutes from now, the first match will start! Let me explain the rules for this round. This will take place in a 15 m by 15 m arena, and each battle will take place in an allotted time of 15 minutes. A defeat will be determined by being down for ten-seconds, out of the ring for ten-seconds, fainting or surrendering. In a situation where the winner cannot be determined within that time, we will resort to a vote from the audience. The rules from last night also apply."
Negi looked around the room in fascination; his group was here, consisting of him, Kotarou, Asuna, Setsuna and Konoka. Takahata-sensei was waving at them from a corner with Evangeline-sensei. Naruto was talking quietly with the hooded man from the cosplay competition. Kaede, Mana and Ku Fei-sensei was walking towards them. In a corner standing alone was the man dressed in a blue trench coat from yesterday, only this time he had a hood covering his hair and swathed completely in a light blue cloak, the spiky haired man with weird ear adornments was standing near him stoically. In another corner were two people completely swathed in black travelling cloaks and in the middle of the room was someone who looked like a karate user warming up while talking to someone who looked like he was impersonating Bruce Lee. Badly.
He clenched his fist and slowly let out a breath before looking up again with bright eyes. He was going to win this. He would surpass his father.
****Broken Faith****
What am I doing here again?" Chisame asked herself, as she stood front row to for the tournament. "Oh yeah, Negi-sensei gave me a free ticket to the tournament as an apology for forcing me to join that embarrassing competition." She blushed slightly at the memory of being stripped in front of an audience before grumbling to herself, "At least this is better than working at the stupid haunted house."
At another part of the shrine stood the library club still decked out for the haunted house. "I wonder if Negi-kun is going to be okay? I mean there are so many adults in this too," Haruna stated to both Yue and Nodoka.
"Don't worry Negi-sensei is very strong, so it's ok. Right, Yue?" Nodoka asked her best friend. Yue seemed to be broken out of her thoughts as she stuttered.
"Y-yeah that's right," the blue haired girl replied.
"Huh? Yue did something happen," Haruna asked. Yue immediately regretting the stutter in her voice at her answer.
"Eh...no not really," Yue said not meeting the other girl's eyes.
"Really?" Haruna asked her face darkening with a hint of perverseness.
'Damn she is scary when she does that,' Yue thought offhandedly. The blue haired girl was really hoping that Haruna doesn't find out about the little talk she had with Negi, as well as her feelings.
Also at the shrine were Natsumi and Chizuru. Chizuru was also in an elegant Chinese dress except black, and had her hair in a ponytail in the back. Natsumi was wearing a fairy costume, complete with wings and antennas along with a pink dress. "Chizu-nee Kotarou-kun is in the first match!" Natsumi told the older girl.
"Oh my... I hope he doesn't get hurt too badly..."
"Ano... what do you mean? This is just a normal competition right? They can't get hurt that badly."
Chizuru smiled slightly and decided not to mention that neither Naruto nor Negi was exactly normal, even by Kotarou's standards, instead she changed the subject, "Natsumi? who do you do you want to win?" Chizuru asked her friend.
"Huh?"
"Who do you want to win?" she repeated.
"Ah...I want Kotarou-kun to win," the red head said embarrassed. Natsumi nodded with a small smile. "How about you Chizu-nee?"
"Hmhmhm, who knows..."
"Eh?"
"Fufufu, lets just say I'm not a betting person alright?" Chizuru said in a sickeningly sweet voice.
"Ok!"
"To everyone in the audience! Thank you for waiting!" Kazumi shouted to the crowd through the mic, increasing the already fever pitch excitement. "In a few short minutes, we will finally be starting the first match of the Mahora Martial Arts Tournament!" As she spoke Kotarou, and surprisingly Mei walked onto the arena. Kazumi pointing to Kotarou said, "In this corner, we have the mystery shounen ninja, contestant Kotarou Murakami!" She then pointed towards Mei. "And in the other corner, the second year middle school girl contestant, Mei Sakura!"
"What's with this! Those are just some brats!" one of the audience members shouted out.
"What the meaning of this organizer!" another one demanded.
"Their abilities were already proven in the preliminaries! There will be no arguments!" Kazumi shouted back. Within the crowd Kotarou had unknowingly made a small fan club of girls calling him cute.
"Eh! You're that onee-chan from the other day!" Kotarou shouted.
"Ah... I'm sorry about that day. You were beaten easily by Onee-sama, but I have to thank you for helping with the World Tree incident as well Kotarou-san," Mei said with a bow.
Kotarou coloured at the reminder of being knocked out so easily and hurriedly changed the topic, "Why are you in this place?"
"Uh...um...I don't actually want to be here but..."
"Ano... Will she be alright? I mean Kotarou isn't really good at holding back." Negi asked worriedly from one of the contestant benches.
"Fufufu," Takane chuckled as she flung her black cloak off dramatically. "Good morning Negi-sensei."
"Eh! you're the one from yesterday!" Negi exclaimed standing up surprised. "What are you doing here?"
"Are you surprised? The reason I'm here is to discipline you and your blonde friend!" Takane stated. "You two keep doing reckless things like getting infected by the world tree and joining this odd tournament! If we don't punish you we will never be in agreement, that's the reason we joined this tournament! That and I want to get back at him for the teasing..." she mumbled the last part so quietly no one heard, "No, no, I mean I wanted to get back at him for losing to him that day! Besides you should worry about your friend not Mei. Mei may look like a sweet child but she graduated from a magical school in America with straight A's. Even at her young age she can already do many spells without incantations. And when we win we will take the 10 million yen as your punishment!"
"Ano... I wasn't really interested in the money..."
"I don't care!"
Negi sweat dropped at the rather high strung blonde and sighed before chalking it up as another thing to blame his Nii-san for. If he hadn't gone berserk and done something to her, he wouldn't have a high strung blonde woman itching to take it out on him.
"Where is your blonde friend anyway!" Takane demanded with a slight blush.
Negi jerked and looked around in surprise, come to think of it he hadn't seen Naruto since the waiting room, "I... don't know. He seems to be doing something else at the moment, sorry..."
"Don't apologize! Honestly! It's not your fault so why are you so meek?"
Negi decided not to reply.
Back on the arena the two contestants were still talking. "I...don't want to do this but this is senpai's orders. I have to defeat you Kotarou-san,' Mei said as she discarded her cloak.
"Big words coming from a cute face," Kotarou smirked getting in to his fighting stance. Inwardly he was wondering exactly how to defeat her without hitting a girl. Sighing he just decided to do the easiest thing that came to mind.
Just as she called forth her pactio, Kotarou sped forward and did an upward palm thrust just short of hitting the girl, using the air pressure of the palm thrust to send her flying out of the stage and into the water, Kotarou sighed, after all the build up about how she knew a lot of spells without incantations and straight A's, it was rather disappointing...
"Help I can't swim!" Mei shouted during the ten count, forcing Kotarou to help her.
"What an upset victory! With just one move Kotarou-san has shown why he is one of the best fighters competing! But he hit a girl..."
"I didn't hit her! It was air pressure! Just air pressure!" Kotarou yelled as he dragged Mei back on land.
"Next, we have the mysterious KuNel Sanders and the Bruce Lee impersonator, Daigouin!"
A hooded man suddenly appeared on stage, completely calm and unruffled as his opponent joined him on stage. Barely thirty-seconds after the match started of random kicking and punching, Albireo just hit the guy in the chest with his palm and he went down easily.
"I-in a flash! A clean counter with the right palm and KuNel Sanders has brought down Daigouin! Even though KuNel seemed to be losing but won with that huge reversal. With a costume that completely hides the face, the mysterious KuNel breaks through the first round!" Kazumi yelled excitedly
"Now we come to the third round of our B bracket matches. The mysterious N.U and our very own elegant Mahora Academy Ninja, Kaede Nagase!"
The silent hooded man in the blue trench coat that covered his entire body, hiding his limbs from view, walked up onto the stage without any flashy moves while Kaede leapt down from the contestant benches.
"I hope to learn a lot from you today N.U.-san." She only got a silent nod in return.
Kaede frowned, the man refused to let out any information out about him, manner of speech, attitude, nothing. Completely blank.
As soon as the bell rang she flashed forward with a shundou, appearing behind the cloaked man with one hand about to strike the back of his head only for a hand to flash out of his cloak and stop her blow completely before pulling her forward till their bodies were nearly touching while pivoting.
"Gak!"
The man had spun around and attacked her back with an obscured elbow without any preamble.
Kaede immediately felt darkness start to creep around her field of vision when she heard a few words from the man, "Shundou is a good move, miss. But the problem with it is, it can only move in a straight line. Predicting where you will appear next was easy since you underestimated me, I'm sorry I had to make our match so short... when this is over, I'll gladly fight you properly."
Kaede let out a low chuckle before falling completely unconscious, "Yare yare, it looks like I have a lot to learn eh N.U.?"
Evangeline cocked one eyebrow, in that one split second, he had attacked six times, landing precise elbow strikes on pressure points across her shoulders and spine, similar to her own style when she wasn't using magic, only more aggressive. His cloak also obscured any movements his limbs and muscles made, making it extremely hard for martial artists like Kaede and Ku Fei that depended on reading their opponents muscles to predict his moves with any accuracy.
Short, fast, precise and brutal. How charming.
Kazumi goggled, she had been expecting Kaede to win without any problems against some no name person with an identity crisis. "A-amazing! What an upset victory! I just saw his cloak shift a bit and Kaede Nagase, my classmate, someone I know is very strong, fainted just like that! winner, N.U.-SAN!"
Gathering her wits again, Kazumi continued to yell into her mic, "Next! We have another two of my classmates. The campus wide favourite to win this competition, Master Ku Fei and her opponent, the sexy and only daughter of the Tatsumiya-shrine, Mana Tatsumiya-san!"
(I hate doing it like this, it feels so unprofessional but I don't want to redescribe a canon match, sorry guys.)
Canon Match between Ku Fei and Mana Tatsumiya
Sacrificing her right arm to take the majority of the coins Mana flung at her especially since it was already broken, Ku Fei managed to get in close and lay one palm on Mana's abdomen before slumping to her knees.
"Sei Shin Suikyou Shou!"
Mana spit some blood out, "Heh... I see... an internal damage technique. Not bad Ku Fei. You have improved a lot."
"Heh, I'm happy to be praised by you de-aru."
Mana fell down face first while Ku Fei struggled to her feet.
"Ah! Competitor Mana is down! Aaaand the upset victory goes to Master Ku Fei! With this the B Bracket Tournaments are Over! Please have some refreshments while we prepare for the A bracket Tournaments!
****Broken Faith****
"Thank you Tatsumiya-san for losing well ne?" Chao said from within a computer room in the shrine. "It would have been bad if the number one candidate for victory lost in the first round. Thanks to the unbelievably inhuman feats so far by you, Kotarou, Ku Fei, and N.U.-san performance the crowd is now more lively. Here is some compensation." Chao offered Mana an envelope.
Mana who had changed into a short sleeve white jacket, a black one piece body suit that looked like a swim suit, and the actually leg long boots, that was strapped to a garter shook her head. "No, I'm not going to take it," she told the Chinese girl.
"Oh?"
"As it was, I was serious in that fight. As a normal person, Ku is without a doubt the strongest of the group. Besides," Mana looked out the window and saw Negi worrying over Ku's arm while the blonde was nowhere to be seen. "If I take that, I feel like I'll be hated by that kid and his brother. To them, loosing on purpose when your opponent is pitching their ideals against that of another on the toss of a coin is dishonourable and no better than spiting on someone's ideals."
She smiled at the Chinese girl, "Their just that idealistic, isn't that so?"
Chao gave her a tiny grin, "That and plenty stubborn."
****Broken Faith****
AN
Yes. He is that Shinji
The rest of the Martial Arts Tournament next Chapter.
Otheticket : Not to be a ungrateful bastard, far from it, I thank you for all the reviews. But really, I'm not hard up for it, and I would prefer it if the reviews were the substantial kind commenting or criticising. When you review like that in a row with one letter reviews, its uh... kinda embarrassing and it makes me feel like I'm a review whore ya know. Really, no offense, and I'm still grateful for it. Lol.
Everyone else as well, don't feel obliged to review just cos I'm urging for it. The 550 reviews i mentioned is smply me wanting to buy sometime to let my fic settle down. I just happened to look at the stats of this fic, and you know what i saw? the first 6 which were spaced about a month apart had about 60 reviews each. After that, because my finals were done and I concentrated on writing, I've been putting out chapters, one average 1 per week, sometimes 1 per day and since the new chapters keep coming out, they only get about 25 reviews and far less love. Thus, I thought this was a good time to let it lie. Mature a bit. I don't wanna burn out, ya know? And if that still doesn't dissuade those idiots that feel the need to rant about authors with sickening attitudes about holding updates back, THE NEXT TIME YOU WONDER WHY GOOD AUTHORS WITH GOOD FICS QUIT THE SITE AND ABANDON THEIR STUFF, LOOK IN THE GOD DAMN MIRROR AND REMIND YOURSELF NO ONE IS BEING PAID TO WRITE HERE. THE LEAST YOU COULD DO IS APPRECIATE US, AND THE ONLY WAY TO DO THAT IS THROUGH REVIEWS, so in a way, reviews is the currency of the fanfiction world. grow the fuck up, anonymous dude with a streetlight up your ass (CoolWhip)
Sei Shin Suikyou Shou : Penetrating Water Surface Palm