Title: The Everlasting Sins
Rating: Rated T.
Pairings: Canon pairings for Naruto, along with slight NaruHina near the very end of the story.
Genre: Adventure.
Summary: A sin lasts forever, even if other things do not. Naruto's debilitating disease doesn't, nor does his hatred. His past, however, forever continues to follow him. Smart, powerful Naruto. Rewritten in collaboration with The Sin of Justice, the original author.
Regarding Q&A: Any questions regarding the story can be asked via PM or review to either me or The Sin of Justice.
Beta: N/A—Help wanted.
Warnings: Language, violence, and moderate blood/gore.
Category: Naruto and Fullmetal Alchemist crossover.
Uploaded: July 1st, 2013
Key:
"Normal dialogue."
Thoughts—for everyone, including Bijū.
/Mental conversations./
Please note that Bijū cannot "speak" unless their host is inside of the seal, and please enjoy the story!
(Section Break)
"Preliminaries, eh?" Zabuza muttered, walking into a large building. Once they were inside, they noticed many other of the Genin hanging about, chit-chatting and resting. The room itself was in an almost dome-like shape, everything made out of stone and metal with lights hanging from overhead. There were balconies on the left and right side of the room for observers and giant stone hands near the far side of the room in the symbol for gathering chakra.
"I suppose it's natural, even if we did take out that one Oto team," Haku said. "I'm still questioning their intentions, however. As a newer village, it's probably not a good idea to go after the last member of a bloodline and the daughter of the Hokage straight off the bat. If they were to have died, what do you think would've happened?"
"Not even sure I wanna know," Naruto replied, laughing.
"Mm," Haku murmured. "In any case, I think it would be a good idea just to take it easy until we have to fight."
"Sounds good to me," said Zabuza. The group moved and stood to the side of the left balcony's staircase, watching and taking note of the opponents still there. Four teams from Konoha, a team from Suna, and themselves from Kiri.
"I suppose it's just normal for Konoha to have the most teams," Naruto muttered to his teammates, "but why did all three rookie teams pass?"
"Most likely because of you being a wuss and not fighting them," Zabuza snorted. Naruto glared at the swordsman.
"It was a personal choice regarding the true reason we're here," the Jinchūriki retorted.
"I know, I know," Zabuza replied, smirking. "Say, do you think the Hokage'll recognise you?"
"I highly doubt that will occur," Haku interrupted. "The Yondaime is not looking for him and Minoru does not use chakra."
"He's here," Naruto said. "The Yondaime."
"Let's get ready, then," Haku responded, walking forward a few steps and waiting for them. They followed soon after. As soon as all the Genin in the room got into a square-like formation, the Yondaime—who was now standing in front of the stone hands along with some other various Jōnin—began speaking. Naruto tuned him out, his speech uninteresting and surprisingly generic. It was politics, mostly, and he didn't really care much about it.
/It might be a good idea to listen to political things,/ Kurama mumbled, chuckling. /Plus, the weird card kid decided to opt out of the preliminaries. I don't think you noticed. It was under the guise of being exhausted, although his chakra levels and posture don't seem to agree./
/...You startled me, Kurama,/ Naruto said, shaking his head slightly. /You've been quiet for so long I forgot how loud you were when talking to me. And,/ Naruto continued sheepishly, /I didn't notice him doing that./
/Poor kid,/ Kurama laughed. /I'm not kidding, though. While boring, the Yondaime Hokage's speech does demonstrate what a lot of the ninja world is like./
Naruto nodded minutely. /I understand that, Kurama, but I don't think that relearning something I already knew isn't of much use./
/Just be aware,/ Kurama replied.
/I will, no worries./
The Kyūbi hummed and said, /Now pay attention. The matches will start soon./
/Got it,/ Naruto responded.
"If you and your team could please meet up with your squad leader and wait until your name is called on the board, then we shall begin the preliminary matches of these Chūnin Exams!" Minato announced, grinning.
"Let's go," Haku suggested, tugging on Naruto's cloak. "You were spacing out. I wasn't sure if you noticed he ended his speech."
"Yeah, I got it," Naruto replied, smiling at the Ice user. "No worries."
"Where's our 'leader'?" Zabuza interjected questioningly, glancing around the arena in one turn of the head. "He seemed to have disappeared."
"Up there," Haku responded, pointing his index finger up near the the very end of the platform on the left side of the room. "I didn't notice him when we came in."
"Doesn't matter," Naruto said easily, starting to walk. "He's weird like that."
The team went up the stairs and went over to Edward. "Hey," Ed greeted, raising a hand up and waving slightly. "I trust you've prepared for this?"
"'Course we did," Zabuza muttered, snorting.
"No need for sarcasm," Ed replied, laughing. "In any case, good luck with your fights. I have a feeling that Konoha is very suspicious of us, so be cautious when you talk. They're probably even listening in on us right now, actually."
/Makes sense,/ Kurama said
Edward turned and grinned at Naruto. "Yes, it does," he agreed.
"Is the—?" Haku inquired, cutting himself off.
"Yeah," Ed responded. "He finally decided to join us."
/Oh, shut up,/ the Kyūbi huffed. /Are they actually listening?/
"I think so," Edward replied. He then turned back towards the railing, clothes fluttering at the sudden movement. "They're getting ready to make choices."
"This should be interesting," Zabuza mumbled, smirking.
Haku nodded in agreement and also went up to the metal railing, putting both of his hands on top of it. The Jōnin on the floor began announcing the names of the competitors, however, and halted any further conversation. He stated his name before saying, "First up...Uchiha Sasuke and Akadō Yoroi!"
The two Genin, both from Konoha, went down the stairs. "Are you both ready?" the brown-haired Jōnin asked.
"Yeah," Sasuke replied. Yoroi gave a stiff nod. They taunted each other for a few seconds before Sasuke's teacher whispered something to him. Ed stopped watching the fight and looked towards one of the Jōnin on the platform, narrowing his eyes.
"Begin!" the man commanded, swishing his hand down like a cleaver and jumping back.
The fight itself lasted for only a few minutes. After Yoroi had used a special chakra-sucking technique, Sasuke had eventually won by pushing through it. His teammates had been cheering him the whole time, though the pink-haired girl seemed especially worried. The Uchiha ended up ending the battle using a move that shocked almost everyone from Konoha, although they seemed even more shocked when a burning red and orange pattern kept appearing on his skin, each time coming out of his neck.
"That's a seal," Zabuza observed as the Uchiha and the other ninja were hauled off the battlefield and Sasuke was announced as the winner. "Tainted, I think."
"It's the Cursed Seal of Heaven," Ed replied. "Orochimaru of the Sannin's specialty. It impairs the sealed with dark thoughts and the inability to use chakra safely. The goal is to lure the person with the seal to the sealer to gain power. It usually works."
Edward laughed slightly when he felt the first two proctors glare at him. He raised his hands up in defense, still grinning. They didn't look away until a few seconds later. "Next fight," the announcer narrated. He looked up to the board. Names flashed by quickly before finally settling on two: Minoru and Aburame Shino. Hayate announced the two competitors, asking them to come down.
Naruto scratched the back of his head and shrugged, jumping over the railing and landing in a crouched position. He approached the Jōnin and waited for his opponent. Quiet, Naruto noted as he watched Shino. He's probably part of a clan, in that case. A special type of technique, then?
"Any objections?" the brown-haired ninja asked.
"None here," Naruto said, shaking his head. His opponent did not answer and the Jōnin took it as a no.
"In that case," the announcer said, "begin!"
Naruto immediately jumped back and waited for the other to do something. He noticed small dots rush across the boy's skin and figured that he was preparing for an attack. The dots aren't going in a pattern, and they're of slightly different sizes. Perhaps it's more of clan technique than a bloodline...
"You are already falling into my trap," the quiet Genin said. Naruto stiffened himself and looked around, spotting a few of the dots on the floor. As they got closer, he identified them as small bugs. Naruto felt like slapping himself.
He's an Aburame, Naruto thought. Of course he uses bugs. Why the hell didn't I notice? The Jinchūriki then reached his senses out, noticing the small lives that were crawling around his feet. Naruto jumped back and glared at the Genin.
"They sap chakra don't they?" Naruto asked rhetorically.
"Yes," the Aburame replied. "How did you notice them?"
"They're not dead," the Jinchūriki said. "I can tell that they were alive, and because of that, I could tell where they were."
"Are you a sensor ninja?" the Genin inquired.
"Sort of," Naruto grinned. "Enough talking."
"Agreed," Shino responded, jumping up and summoning many of his kikai bugs into a large wave. He lashed them towards Naruto.
In that case... Naruto thought, slamming his gloves together and then laying them on the floor quickly, I should do this.
A large wall appeared, closing Naruto in and blocking all of the bugs. Naruto proceeded to transmute more and made a large hole in the ground, then closed the hole he after he clambered down into it and let the wall crumble underneath the bugs' power. There were a few things he heard through floor, which he had made thinner, that were akin to "Where'd he go?" and "Did he disappear?" Naruto thought it was rather entertaining. He felt the Konoha Genin let more bugs flow out of his body and search for him. It appeared that the Aburame actually had some of the bugs on him, but underneath the floor, there was no way for them to communicate with their owner. Either way, they still enjoyed their feast of his energy.
/The kikai bugs above us have enough intellect to understand that you're underneath the floor. Prepare,/ Kurama warned.
/Ahh, thanks,/ Naruto responded, brushing his hand against the ceiling and then flicking one of the bugs he saw off his person. /Reckon I should use a weapon or go for a trap?/
/Your choice,/ the Kyūbi said, /but I'd recommend both. Aburame are not close-range fighters./
/Got it./
Naruto put his hands on the floor again, sparking blue light to race across the floor from the transmutation circle sewn into his gloves using thread. Summoning a large rapier, he tossed it to the side and smashed his hands against the floor again, taking up the thin floor above him and wrapping it around Shino's foot, which had barely been caught when the Genin had took towards the ceiling upon noticing the floor. Light trailed in through the crumbling stone, and Naruto grabbed the weapon and jumped out of the duvet when it finally collapsed. Once outside, he saw Shino commanding his bugs to both attack him and to begin gnawing away at the stone around his foot. Now!
Naruto rushed towards the Aburame, gaining on him quickly and avoiding the wave of bugs by inches at a time. He pushed them away using gusts of wind, but several that were on the floor still latched onto him, draining him of his civilian-level chakra. It wasn't as bad as he had expected, but it still made him quite tired. He reached the Genin panting before dragging his rapier up and holding it to Shino's chest. He continued breathing a tad heavily until Hayate nodded and broke up the two fighting. As soon as Naruto was announced the winner, he let the weapon drop and undid the stone, restoring all of it into its original state. He trudged back up the stairs, slightly embarrassed as all the people stared at him. He barely was able to hear it, but he noticed that the teammates of the ninja were all whispering about him. He swore that the dog-like one glared at him, but he dismissed it. It's probably because he thinks that I only did that since I'm from probably saw it as me taunting his comrade. Although, to be fair, I didn't kill a single one of those damn bugs. Ungrateful, much?
/The dog boy is an Inuzuka,/ Kurama murmured to Naruto. /They are fiercely loyal to their friends. It's to be expected, even if you didn't do anything that harmed the other besides the fight being somewhat one-sided./
/I guess it might've just been a bad match-up,/ Naruto sighed. /A long-range fighter that uses something that's mostly effective against ninja is not a nice pairing for a medium-to-short-range alchemist who doesn't use that in the first place./
/That's not the only reason, you know,/ the Kyūbi berated as Naruto finally approached his group. /These ninja have not learned to sense yet. I have no doubts, however, that those two Hyūgas were able to see everything you did./
/They don't teach them how to track chakra before they become Genin?/ Naruto asked.
"No, they don't," Ed interrupted. "Good job, I guess. Wasn't very exciting, though."
"Oh, shush," Naruto huffed, sitting down against the wall and recovering.
Edward smirked and turned back to the arena. Hayate nodded at the Hokage and announced the next match after checking the board. "Misumi Tsurugi and Kankurō!" he shouted.
Several people glanced at Kankurō as he left the platform, most of them glaring. The two ninja went down and greeted each other, going through Hayate's standard introduction. Kankurō prepared his mass of bandages before Tsurugi snaked himself around the Sand ninja, threatening to snap his neck if he didn't give up. Kankurō smirked at him and showed that he had actually switched places with his puppet, avoiding Tsurugi's neck-snapping. The fight came to a close with Tsurugi falling onto the floor. Hayate announced Kankurō as the winner. They brought in a stretcher for Tsurugi while Kankurō went back up to the rest of the Sand ninja, each of them taking no notice of his victory.
After that, Hayate announced the next match. "Haruno Sakura and Yamanaka Ino!" he said, coughing after he finished. The two girls stared at each other before glaring with contempt. They each came down the stairs, taunting and mocking each other. In the end, neither won, although the Yamanaka had shown some very interesting tactics that were probably not very smart in the long run. The next match soon began.
"Tenten and Temari!" Hayate called out. The two girls came down, the Sand one glaring and the Konoha one preparing herself for the fight. Afterward, everyone realised that the fight was incredibly one-sided and brutal. The weapons mistress, Tenten, truly had more bad luck than the Aburame did. Temari, being a Wind-user, simply waved away all the attacks, even the girl's special attack that she was saving for the final exams. At the end, Temari let Tenten fall onto her metal fan and her teammate caught her, disgusted by the Suna ninja. Naruto kind of felt sorry for her, even though he wasn't really watching.
The Jōnin soon announced the next fight. "Nara Shikamaru and Hikaru!" he said loudly. Haku glanced up at the electronic board before walking down the long platform and passing a few of the louder teams. Naruto stood back up to see the fight, supporting himself with the rails. Haku made his way towards the proctor and waited for his opponent, a black-haired Genin from Konoha that looked very tired and bored.
"Are you both alright with this fight?" Hayate asked.
"Yes," Haku replied.
"Yeah," Shikamaru muttered, assessing the Ice-user. "You're from Kiri?"
"Yes," Haku answered, tilting his head slightly. "I must ask you, however, to prepare yourself for this fight. I will not be going easy on you, Konoha ninja."
"Same goes to you," Shikamaru replied a bit lazily.
Hayate cut them off. "Begin!" he ordered, hopping backwards to the stone hands. Haku pulled several senbon out of his weapons pouch, throwing them immediately towards the Nara, who dodged just in time. Pulling out several more, Haku noticed a Konoha Jōnin's eyes upon him. Figuring it was because he had used senbon back on the bridge in the Land of the Waves, Haku waved it off and glared at his opponent.
He's almost relaxed, yet he's also very tense, Haku thought. He's prepared. Perhaps he is thinking of a strategy. Haku threw senbon from different angles and heights very quickly, watching as the Nara used a kunai to fend off the few that reached him before he could dodge. He knows what to do before he does it, even at this speed. I should be careful—he might be incredibly powerful.
Haku watched closely as the Nara glared at him, sweating slightly in exertion. It's not from physical activity, Haku noted. He must be thinking hard. Stress, perhaps?
"Go ahead," Haku invited, stopping his attacks. "I'm interested in what you will do."
"Fine, then," Shikamaru grumbled, pausing his movements and putting his hands together into a seal. Haku noticed immediately that his shadow began trembling. A Shadow-user, Haku thought. I've heard tales, but this is a good opportunity to learn about them.
Haku jumped back and watched the Genin's shadow stretch its way until it reached the edge of the playing field, connecting with the other shadows in the room. Haku smiled softly as he realised what the Genin was doing. Well played. You forced me into the center.
Haku made his way by walking, waiting for Shikamaru to speak again. "I see you understand what I've done," the Konoha ninja said.
"Of course," Haku agreed. "Now, let's have a bit of fun, shall we?"
"Fun?" the Nara wondered.
"Yes," Haku replied, grinning. He brought a single hand up and formed seals. Several ninja watched in confusion until several large spears of ice appeared in mid-air, hovering. Haku made another seal and watched them as they soared towards the Shadow-user. Shikamaru ducked not even a second before they would have impacted, allowing them to shatter harmlessly against the wall. "Cold, aren't they?" the former Mist ninja taunted.
Shikamaru glared at him. "I thought Kirigakure is in the middle of a civil war because of bloodlines," he said.
"Be that as it may," Haku replied, forming more seals with his one hand, "it's not technically a Kiri-standard bloodline anymore. I'm the only one left who has it, after all. After the rogue ninja died, I became the only user."
"Rogue ninja?" the Nara repeated.
"Yes, a ninja who I believe had a recent encounter with one of your friends," Haku responded, smirking. "Someone who's in this room, actually. He wasn't worth the time, anyway. Kiri was after his master."
Haku felt the Konoha team become rather upset with his words. The blonde girl—Natsuki, Haku recalled—was about to speak out, but Haku suddenly jumped up to avoid a shadow coming from his backside.
"Nice try," he complimented. "If I hadn't been paying attention, that probably would have worked."
"Thanks," Shikamaru muttered, letting the shadow come back to him. He waited for Haku to do something else, still wondering how to beat him.
"Oh, I see," Haku murmured. He brought his hands together and formed some normal seals, watching as a large pane of ice appeared in thin air to the side of the Shadow-user. Shikamaru narrowed his eyes and jumped away, watching the pane intently. Haku formed another behind the Shadow-user, then another, and another, eventually trapping the Nara in a large cube of ice. Haku closed off the top before performing a technique to melt himself down to water, allowing him to appear in the pane of ice a few seconds later. He came out of the pane, easing himself into the cube alongside the Shadow-user.
"Why trap me into a cube full of shadows?" the Nara inquired suspiciously.
Haku smiled through the dark, allowing his eyes to adjust with the assistance of a bit of chakra. "You'll see," he said.
"Very funny," Shikamaru muttered. Haku laughed slightly before going back inside of the panes. "I doubt the proctors will like the fact you've hid us away from sight, you know."
"The Hokage can sense us," Haku replied dismissively. "It'll be fine."
"We're fighting," the Nara said, deadpan.
"Then fight," Haku suggested, taking out a senbon. "Observe carefully, will you?"
"Sure," Shikamaru mumbled, gathering all the shadows in the cube and watching the translucent ice as Haku moved through it. "You're letting in light," he observed.
"Very good observation," Haku said a bit sarcastically. "I presume you're wondering why?"
"A bit," the Nara admitted. "My shadows aren't affecting you while you're in that ice, anyway, so..."
"This is actually the lesser version of this technique," Haku said. "Though, this one shuts us off, unlike the other."
Shikamaru nodded and rapped his knuckle against the ice. Taking out a kunai, he plunged it in the ice, only for the ice to suck in the kunai and keep it there, frozen. Interesting, Shikamaru thought.
"Feel free to keep trying," Haku suggested. Shikamaru glared at him and took out a few more kunai, digging them into the ice each time. Cracks started appearing, making Haku laugh a bit. "It won't work."
Shikamaru smirked at the Ice-user and took out one last kunai, absolutely slamming it into the ice, point of the kunai chipping off as it went through. Haku's amusement faded and his smile vanished.
"Alright, then," Haku muttered, taking out some senbon and throwing them towards Shikamaru. His shadow technique caught them, the room being dark enough for Shikamaru to spread shadows across his body, making the senbon able to be caught right before they hit. Haku took out more senbon with annoyance, throwing them quicker than before. Once again, they were caught. He threw more, but to the same effect.
"It appears you underestimated me, Kiri ninja," Shikamaru murmured, teeth gleaming through the darkness. He took out one more kunai and raked it through the ice, causing it to crack and crumble apart. He heard mumbles from outside, commenting on what was happening. Haku clicked his tongue and stepped out of the pane, letting it all melt into water. However, as he got out, he noticed he couldn't move.
"Very clever," Haku complimented quietly. "Now what are you going to do?"
Shikamaru grinned, then raised his hand. Haku trembled as he felt himself do the same. A small grin made itself onto the Ice-user's lips. "Congratulations, Nara," he said softly as the Jōnin announcer called the winner. The shadow receded back to Shikamaru. "It's unfortunate, but I must admit that I did not expect very much from you. You surprised me and I made a large mistake."
"Well, then, I'm glad I was able to prove you wrong," the Shadow-user replied. "Hikaru, was it?"
Haku nodded. "Thank you for the fight."
"You too."
Haku went back up the stairs, laughing quietly at himself. When he approached his team, Edward looked sympathetic.
"It's happened to me before," the alchemist explained quietly. "No worries. I know the feeling. At least you were a good sport about it."
"Thanks," Haku said, also quiet. "Sorry."
"No worries," Ed responded. "This feels rigged, anyhow."
"Does it?" Naruto asked.
"Yeah," Edward replied, looking at Naruto. "Every village rigs it, though, so I suppose it doesn't matter much."
"Next match!" Hayate announced, bringing everyone's attention back to the matches. "Uzumaki Natsuki and Inuzuka Kiba!"
What ensued was a rather large batch of embarrassment in which Kiba was very aggressive and Natsuki wasn't sure how to respond. Naruto didn't even want to look. In the end, Natsuki won. Her team greeted her back with smiles, though. After that, another battle consisting of Hyūga Hinata and her cousin, Hyūga Neji, occurred. It started off normally—bickering until one of them made a move. However, the speech wasn't quite just taunting.
"Just give up," Neji said coldly. "You, unlike your sister, have been rude and uncaring towards people. While being distant is a normal Hyūga trait, you have taken it to the extremes and caused quite a fuss in the family. Lord Hiashi has complained many of times about your impudence. You're rebellious and downright rude, Lady Hinata."
The Hyūga girl glared at the Branch family member. "Who are you to talk to me like that?" she asked angrily.
"You know you wouldn't," Neji taunted. "You, unlike Lady Hanabi, are merely hiding your feelings. Inside, you're a timid and pathetic weakling who doesn't amount to anything."
"Screw you!" Hinata shouted, making some people look at her in surprise. "I will be the next heiress of the Hyūga family, and when I am, I will make sure that you will be miserable!"
"Are you scared?" Neji asked, laughing without humour. "You're not special, Lady Hinata. The only reason you're worth anything is because of your blood, something that you didn't work for."
"Shut up," she ordered. "I...I will not be spoken to like this."
"You're falling apart, Lady Hinata," the brown-haired Hyūga said. "Look at yourself. You're becoming an even worse and worse example of the family as you speak with me."
Hinata glared at him. "This is not a battle of words," she retorted. "This is a battle of skill."
"Aren't words part of that?" Neji wondered. "Though, I doubt you'd know, Lady Hinata. You have no skill anywhere outside of fighting, and even then it's all faked."
Hinata glared even more harshly. Naruto watched in concern as the two cousins resorted to even dirtier tactics before the fight even began. "Do you really want to try me?" she inquired, adjusting herself to the normal Hyūga fighting style position. "I will not hesitate to report you to Father."
"He doesn't care for you," Neji replied, laughing cruelly. "You know he doesn't. He's always been angry with you since before you even began walking."
"It's not like I could control myself back then!" Hinata shouted. "He has no right to—"
"And now you're insulting the Clan's Head," Neji said, faking sadness. He then turned very serious. "You're a failure, Hinata. No one is proud of you. No one loves you. You should give up now so that you don't make a fool of yourself."
"Shut up!" she commanded, bringing her hands up into the seal that would activate the Caged Bird Seal. "I'll..."
"You'll use the Seal against me?" Neji asked, bringing a hand to his forehead. "I'm glad that you recognise that you're a coward."
Hinata stared at him with eyes that were rapidly growing wider. "I'm not a coward!" she denied angrily.
"Then why bring in House affairs to this fight?" the Hyūga queried. "You can't do that against normal opponents, you know. Or, are you only doing it as a bluff?"
Hinata growled as her hands began to shake. She quickly got into an offensive stance and ran towards her cousin, attacking him with her hands, but to no avail. In her rage, he had full control of the battlefield. This must have been his plan, she thought. But...he was right, after all.
Small tears began to appear in Hinata's eyes as she tried to hit Neji more and more. He retaliated a few times, but not nearly as much as she was. Growing slightly hysterical, she let out a very loud battle cry and rushed towards him, to which he gave her a palm strike in the stomach, making her go limp. She fell off his hand, eyes a bit red as she sat disorderly on the ground.
"See?" he asked tonelessly. "A failure. You cannot even compare to a Branch family member."
"Shut up..." she muttered.
"What was that?" Neji inquired, a smirk on his face.
"Shut up," she repeated. Her eyes snapped up to meet Neji's. They were large and full of tears. "Shut up, shut up, shut up!"
Neji smirked even more, kicking her. She flew back and hit the wall on the opposite side of the arena. "You still want to fight?"
She didn't reply. The proctor looked at the duo nervously. Meanwhile, Naruto balled his hands up into fists, glaring at the male Hyūga. That's not fair, he thought. You can't use someone's insecurities against them. It's dirty.
He felt pain as his nails began digging into the skin of his palms. Not to mention that those particular insecurities are worse than others. Being a failure, being worthless, never getting acknowledged...
A small, very thin trail of blood began flowing from his left hand. Naruto quickly retracted his hand from a fist and looked at the red liquid. Wasn't I afraid of that, too? he wondered to himself. Yeah...I was.
Neji walked up to her, kicking her again and again, each time spewing out more insults. Naruto saw the warm and salty water fall from her eyes. He bit his lip. Should I...?
"...pathetic..."
I wonder if I should.
"...worthless..."
Why isn't the proctor calling the match?
"...rude..."
Why...
"...sad..."
Why aren't I saying anything?
He didn't know.
"Stop it," he heard her murmur. He froze, remembering something from long ago. It was just voices, no visuals. He heard himself.
"Stop it..." she whispered, blood beginning to leak out of her mouth.
A part of him exploded. "She told you to fucking stop, asshole!" Naruto shouted, slamming his hands against the metal bars and making a loud clang. Neji spun around and looked for the person who spoke.
"A Kiri ninja...saying that?" Naruto heard one of the contestants mumble.
"Why are you standing up for her?" Neji inquired, glaring at Naruto.
"You're her cousin, right?" Naruto asked loudly. "Family doesn't abandon family, shithead."
"She is no family of mine if she cannot attack me," Neji replied, turning to face him. "You aren't even from Konoha. What happened? Did you lose your parents due to treason or some other thing, Kiri ninja?"
"Family doesn't abandon family," Naruto repeated firmly, ignoring the complete hypocrisy of everything he was saying. "Let her speak for herself. You're implanting ideas into her head that she can't get rid of, fuckface. Stop it."
"Perhaps you should make me," Neji said, smirking.
"I'd love to, but then your cousin over there wouldn't be able to kick your sorry ass."
Hinata watched through blurry eyes as the Mist ninja defended her. She couldn't see very well and she wasn't sure if she had enough strength to activate her Byakugan. What does he mean...?
"A foreign shinobi is lecturing me on how to act," Neji announced. "Pathetic."
"You're even more pathetic," the boy retorted. "What happened to you, lose your parents due to treason or some other thing?"
Neji clamped his mouth shut and glared at the boy harshly. "You are of no consequence to me, Kiri ninja. Shut your mouth."
The boy glared back at Hinata's cousin before turning to look at her. She couldn't tell very well, but she thought he was. "You're Hyūga Hinata, correct?" he asked. She nodded, a headache making the action painful. "Kick his ass."
She looked up at the boy. Why is he defending me? she wondered. He's from Kiri, the land of the cold-hearted killers. The blood-soaked. Why does he even care?
"You just gonna ignore me?" he inquired, snapping her out of his thoughts. "Your friend over with the Copycat also appears to be itching to yell at you to get up."
Natsuki? she thought, looking at the blonde girl. She saw her give a thumbs-up and a wink, as if to say, "You can do it, Hinata!"
"She isn't much of a friend," Hinata whispered.
"An acquaintance, then," the boy agreed. "Your cousin isn't gonna wait for you all day, though. If you want to be strong, stand up and fight. If you want to be noticed, stand up and fight. If you want to be worth something, stand up and fight!"
Shocked, Hinata stared at him for a few seconds, gobsmacked. She then slowly pushed herself up with her remaining strength, feeling the blood on her chin drip off. She wiped it up with her coat and continued hoisting herself up, using the wall for assistance. Neji glared at her, but she paid him no mind.
"You're going to fight after a speech made by someone you don't even know?" he scoffed. Hinata nodded, glaring back at him. "Pathetic."
"No," she disagreed sharply, "you're the pathetic one here."
He didn't reply but instead rushed her, attacking her with one of the techniques taught to him by his fellow family members. "Hakke Rokujūyon Shō! Eight Trigrams: Sixty-Four Palms!" Everything went kind of white.
Hinata didn't register the pain very well, adrenaline flowing through her veins. However, she could feel the exhaustion seeping in and the sheer amount of "ouch"s she would say when in the hospital. She heard the outraged cry of her sort-of friend Natsuki on the sidelines and the gaze of the boy she wasn't even sure the name of. She felt herself get lifted up onto a stretcher and felt her teammates' presence next to her. She also felt someone else walking alongside her and figured it was the odd Kiri ninja. A few minutes later, they arrived in the infirmary. Hinata wasn't thinking straight due to all the internal damage and the loss of blood, but she tried to pry her eyes open anyway after they put her on a bed and stuck an IV in her arm.
"You..." she muttered, looking painfully through one eye. She felt the incredibly strong painkillers kick in and knew she would fall asleep soon. "Can I speak to you alone?"
"Sure," he agreed. Her teammates glanced at him nervously, looking towards her for guidance. She gave them a reassuring smile before they left.
"Why did you say that to me?" she asked.
"The pain of being rejected," he said out of the blue.
"What?" she asked, haze creeping up on her. She shook her head and sat up a little more, making the world tilt.
"I've felt it too," he continued. "It hurts, doesn't it? More so than being alone. They know you're there, they just pretend not to."
She nodded sadly. "Is that common in Kiri?" she inquired.
"More so than it should be," he said, shrugging. "Besides, I can't stand people like him."
"Like Neji?" she questioned, adjusting herself again. Her eyesight became clearer as she regained more energy.
"Yeah," he replied. "I'm Minoru."
"Hyūga Hinata," she responded. "But why did you stick up for me? Surely it must have seemed like I was being arrogant."
"You hadn't gotten through the pain," he explained, leaning closer to see her eyes. She noticed his facial features more closely, a light blush dusting her cheeks at his proximity.
"The pain of being rejected, I take it," she murmured.
"...Yeah."
"Was that the only reason?"
"I wanted to help you."
Her eyes grew wide and she blushed deeply. "Um," she muttered, "thank you."
"No problem," he replied. "I want to see the next match, if that's okay with you."
"A-ah, yes," she stuttered, leaning back and pulling up the thin sheets of the bed. "Can you ask my team to come in?"
"Sure."
He almost left when he looked back at her and grinned cheerfully, waving goodbye. She stared at him for a few seconds before her blush deepened even further and she felt herself go faint, deeply embarrassed. Alongside the medications and her feelings, she ended up passing out. Naruto noticed and laughed at her being so exhausted yet making herself stay up to interrogate him, then went outside the room and let her team in. They looked at him nervously before nodding, thankful.
As Naruto went back to his team on the left platforms, he felt his ears go slightly red as Zabuza clapped him on the back. Haku gave Zabuza a look and made him stop, but the damage had been done. Naruto felt like he had just been scarred for life when he realised what they meant, especially when they all, including Kurama, began laughing. He grumbled at them and began watching the next match.
The next match consisted of Rock Lee and Gaara, a Konoha ninja and a Sand ninja. Kurama identified the Suna ninja as the Jinchūriki of the Ichibi, or One-Tail, a tanuki called Shukaku. Rock Lee gave an outstanding effort, but the Sand ninja proved to be too much. Even after Lee had used his most powerful attack, something that would seriously injure most ninja, Gaara showed his secondary ultimate defense, rendering Lee's attack useless. Afterward, Gaara used his chakra-imbued sand to crush the jumpsuit-wearing kid's legs. He was rushed off the field after much anger that the Sand ninja wouldn't stop attacking even after the match was decided. Edward watched with a rather impassive face as it all unfolded.
"Guess I'm last," Zabuza said, hopping over the rails without waiting for the next match announcement. His opponent, a larger boy with odd swirls on his cheeks, came down soon after, looking nervous. "Yo," Zabuza greeted, smirking like a wild animal.
"H-hello," the boy greeted.
"Any objections?" Hayate asked. Both shook their heads. "Begin!"
Zabuza pulled his sword off his back, entering an attacking position. His teammates cheered for him, although the girl shouted something similar to "Fatso!", making the boy enraged. He began shouting at the girl, making Zabuza wait impatiently. The kid announced a technique relating to size, making him grow very large. Zabuza smirked.
"Wouldn't it be better to be a harder target to attack? You know, be smaller?" he asked, grinning as the ninja began filling his body proportions with smoke-like blue chakra.
"Just wait!" Chōji shouted angrily, still pissed from Ino's words. He started spinning quickly and announced his attack. "Nikudan Sensha! Human Boulder!"
Zabuza smirked and braced his sword, waiting for the impact. When it happened, Zabuza slowly moved his sword from its vertical defensive position to a more offensive vertical one, allowing it to start shredding part of the boy's body. Most that happened was cloth flying about, but as Zabuza pushed his sword in deeper, he forced the Akimichi to a stop to avoid being injured.
"Damn it," Chōji cursed, jumping back. "In that case..."
The Akimichi rushed towards Zabuza, kunai in hand. Zabuza deflected the kunai jab before slashing the kunai out of his hand, still smirking. "Is that all?" he asked.
Chōji gritted his teeth. "No," he snarled, "I'm not done."
"You sure?" Zabuza inquired, jumping forward and bringing his claymore down in an exaggerated swinging motion. It skimmed the Akimichi as he attempted to get back, blood dripping down the very edge of the blade. He rushed forward again, slashing the sword this way and that way, each time skimming the Akimichi and destroying his clothes. After a few more times, Akimichi got stuck against the wall and dove for cover right before Zabuza's sword collided with his shoulder, hitting the wall and leaving a rather large chunk missing. Chōji's eyes widened and he scrambled to get up, unsure of what to do next. It went on like that for a few more minutes until Chōji was rather battered, almost out of energy. His female teammate was screaming at him and Zabuza felt a tint of remorse. Finally, the Akimichi stumbled and Zabuza tackled him, swerving about and holding his blade to the ninja's throat. Hayate called the match after a few more seconds, announcing Zabuza as the winner. Climbing off of him, he noticed the boy's glare and offered a hand. It was almost slapped away, but the look of apology in Zabuza's eyes made Chōji sigh and take the hand.
"Sorry," Zabuza apologised.
"...yeah," the Akimichi muttered. "Thanks."
"No problem."
They both went back to their teams in time to hear the Hokage begin a speech about a bunch of things that the team already knew about. They were called down to the floor to pull numbers. As the proctor came to them with a box full of slips of paper, each one with a number.
"When I call your name, call out your number," the proctor said. The Genin nodded. "I'll pull for Uchiha Sasuke, who has a five." He began naming them off one-by-one. "Minoru!"
"A one," Naruto said.
"Kankurō!" the proctor shouted.
"Seven," the Sand ninja smirked.
"Temari!"
"An eight," she answered.
"Nara Shikamaru!"
"Nine," he responded dully.
"Uzumaki Natsuki!"
"...Six," she said.
"Hyūga Neji!"
"Three," he replied.
"Gaara!" the proctor called.
"Four," the Jinchūriki stated.
"Zeku!"
"A two."
"Since we have nine people, someone will be competing twice," Ibiki, the proctor, said. "Take a look at the matches! First, we have Minoru versus Zeku. The winner will take on Hyūga Neji. After that, Gaara and Uchiha Sasuke will compete. The winner of Uzumaki Natsuki and Kankurō will fight after that. Finally, Temari and Nara Shikamaru will fight. The winner from the fight between Hyūga Neji and his opponent will fight the winner from Gaara and Uchiha Sasuke's fight. Uzumaki Natsuki and Kankurō's fight will then fight the winner of Temari and Nara Shikamaru's fight. The two winners from those fights will then battle each other."
The Genin all took a glance at their opponents on both the paper and real life, some of them leaving sooner than others after checking. After a few minutes, everyone cleared out of the building. Naruto met up with the rest of his team as they all walked back to the hotel they were staying at.
"Are we going to train here in Konoha?" Naruto asked.
"No," Ed replied. "Plus, that puts us at even more risk. We're going back to the Land of the Waves."
"All the way back there?" the Jinchūriki inquired.
"It was our home," Edward responded, "and there're good places to train there. It's safer, anyway."
"When are we leaving?" Haku inquired.
"Tomorrow morning, if possible," Ed answered. "It'll be nice to get away from this village."
"I wonder how suspicious we are to them," Zabuza said. "Though, I think us saying things like that make us even more so, you know?"
"I follow you," Edward laughed. "Well, then! To Nami no Kuni it is."
(Section Break)
In response to Peter Kim: You'll just have to wait to find out :p
In response to Guest: I can too, haha. "Sue a sword"? :p Yeah, lemme go reword that slightly, but that is what I meant. Also, I'm fine and won't die. Yet. (Watch: Immediately I'm going to get mauled by a bear after I finish this sentence.)
In response to A W (chapter six): Thanks for making me feel like I'm pathetic and worthless. :D Also, for the record, please at least don't criticise a story's plot (especially a part as huge as that) before finishing the story. Who knows, maybe I would kill them. Though, you probably will never see this because you obviously don't give enough fucks to at least fucking read the rest of the fucking story! :)
152 reviews!
Poll: Xbox One or PS4 or Wii U? I'm personally thinking about the PS4, but idk. :p
(P.S. No, NaruHina will not occur during this point in time—TSOJ just wanted to add that in. So young :s)
In any case (God, I've been using this phrase too much), thank you for reading! If you review, virtual cookies. If not, that's fine too. As long as you like the story, everything's all good!
Shameless advertising: If you're a fan of Fullmetal Alchemist and Harry Potter crossovers, I have a story called Molten up. It's a bit drabble-y. I also have a Naruto one-shot called A Way to Win, if anyone's interested.