Disclaimer: Own nothing, except the Kusajishi twins.
Last Time: Konohamaru gets mauled.
This time: Naruto fights Yumi.
Koza sprinted forward, grinning wildly.
"Die Blondie!"
Naruto was fully prepared to hold back and fight Koza, but as the other man began his attack, his face was replaced by Konohamaru's, pallid with blood loss and drenched with sweat, which was then replaced by another face, one with a arrogant smirk and leering gold eyes.
Yumi's face.
A bubble of rage burst in Naruto's chest. He had to end this. Drawing it out would reduce that chance that he'd be able to go toe to toe with Yumi and Ayame one after another.
"What!?" Koza shouted when Naruto simply vanished.
"Sorry," said a voice behind the last Takeda, "but I don't have time to waste with you." A blow like a runaway bull slammed into the base of Koza's neck, making his body go tingly and stars burst in his vision, but by the time he'd recovered, the unforgiving concrete of the arena wall filled his vision.
'This is gonna hurt,' crossed his mind briefly then the world went dark.
The crowd, up until this point roaring their approval, went dead silent, the only noise being the clunking of chunks of concrete that were falling from the bloom of smoke and debris that covered Koza's body.
The dust settled and Koza was buried in the wall. A cracking noise split the air and he fell backwards, slamming to the ground with a finality that echoed almost eerily in the stadium.
"What happened?" asked Sakura. Unlike Koza, who'd never seen his defeat coming, she'd actually seen Naruto move. Well, in reality all she saw was a blur then Koza flying into the wall with enough force to rattle the stadium, but still, she'd seen something.
"Uzumaki Naruto is thinking with his head for once," Gaara said tonelessly. "He has to face two kunoichi who can fight on equal terms with him next. Holding back against trash like that would only invite potential disaster."
"I would ask," the Mizukage said with a steely tone, "that you not refer to my shinobi as trash, Kazekage-sama." Gaara only spared the man an icy teal glare. "Still, I must commend him. Koza is one of my village's most gifted genin. To defeat him in one blow, this man is truly beyond genin. Why is he still at such a low rank?"
"He's been away on a training trip for a while." Tsunade answered icily.
"Oh? I would think that this blond man is the Sound missing-nin that has been making such a fuss for the past year or two."
"What makes you think that, Mizukage-sama?" Tsunade asked, throwing the –sama at the end on as a technicality, as if she didn't think he deserved the title. Something about this guy was making her nervous. It felt like he was fishing for information.
Abruptly the man stood and headed for the stairs. "My last genin has been knocked unconscious. There is no reason for me to stay. Good day, my fellow Kages." Then he was gone in a flick of white robe.
"Bastard," Tsunade growled once she was sure that he was out of earshot. Gaara only nodded his agreement.
Genma lost no time in declaring Naruto the winner, then announcing the next match between Ayame and Moegi. Ayame was in the ring the moment her name was announced, tapping her foot impatiently as she awaited Moegi's return to the arena.
Five minutes passed, then ten, then fifteen and still Moegi didn't show up. Most of the crowd wasn't too surprised. After all, she had been beaten up pretty badly and then drugged to sleep. They wouldn't begrudge her a little time for R&R.
At the twenty minute mark, Genma stepped up.
"If Moegi does not return to the arena in five minutes, then Ayame will win by default!"
Naruto's eyes narrowed then he turned on his heel in a swirl of dark fabric, heading for the hospital wing. What he saw when he entered made him vow to beat Yumi's face into the ground even more than he'd planned.
Konohamaru was pale and clammy, surrounded by three medic-nin, hooked up to all sorts of medical machinery and IV tubes, one for blood, another for nutrients, and others that Naruto couldn't even begin to guess at. The blonde's eyes darted to the EKG machine almost the moment he registered that it was Konohamaru lying there and not Takeda Koza.
The lines on the EKG were feeble and erratic, but the medics weren't scurrying around in a frenzy, which meant he had to be at least stable or was beyond help, though Naruto banished that thought the moment it entered his head.
"How is he?" the Jinchuuriki asked, making one of the medics jumped. Two of the three glared at him, being old enough to know what he was and they had not been present at the wall. The third medic looked to be around Naruto's age and she turned with a sigh.
"It's not pretty."
"Ino?" Naruto forgot all about Konohamaru's plight at the sight of Sakura's blond friend/rival, clad in the gear of a medic.
"Hi, Naruto." She managed a weak smile as he moved to Moegi's bedside, watching the teen sleep soundly. "Konohamaru's in stable condition now and we think he'll make a full recovery, but…"
"You still have to keep an eye on him, right?"
The other blond nodded. Naruto had seen that coming. Doctors and nurses rarely committed themselves to an answer of any kind, both to prepare the family for the worst and to avoid malpractice suits.
"How about Moegi? Her match is up now."
Ino was shaking her head even before he finished speaking. "Not going to happen, Naruto. She's still out, though it's chakra exhaustion now more than anything else. I can't see her moving anywhere for at least the next six hours."
Naruto sighed, rolling his shoulder. "Right. Looks like I'm up again."
Ino grinned. "I'll have a bed ready for your opponent."
She shivered when Naruto's eyes darkened to something dark and dangerous. "No," he said in a chilling voice. "Not a bed. A body bag." With that, he swept from the medical bay, his cloak seeming to take on a life of its own in response to his dark mood. Ino shivered.
"Jeeze, he always did like theatrics."
Naruto reemerged into the sun of the contestants box, blinking twice to adjust his vision, then he vaulted over the rail to land next to Genma. The senbon-chewing jounin looked at him like he'd gone mad.
"Uzumaki, it's not your match. Get back to the booth."
"I just came from sick bay," the other shinobi answered. "You might as well call it now, because Moegi-chan's not going to be out in time."
"You sure?"
Naruto nodded. "Yeah. She overdid it a little with her chakra. She's out like a light."
Ayame snorted as Genma announced the winner. "Figures. Only an idiot would use up all her chakra like that."
"Shut up," the blond growled. Even if it wasn't a roundabout insult at him, he still didn't like it when people insulted his friends. "I'll deal with you in the finals."
Ayame grinned viciously. "You mean if you get past Yumi."
"I've done it once," Naruto answered. "I'll do it again, no problem."
The blue missing-nin didn't answer, instead walking off for her place while Yumi came down the steps, naked sword already in her hand. Naruto's answer was to tug off his cloak and let it blow away before unsealing Kazekiri and drawing the weapon.
Genma looked from one to the other and backed up a few dozen paces. He knew he didn't need to announce the beginning. This wasn't going to be your usual genin battle. These two were out for blood and at the end, one of them would probably be dead.
Killing intent saturated the air, making those who weren't used to it choke and gag, feeling as if the air was so humid that it wouldn't move from their lungs. Even those who were used to killing intent felt as if a weight was crushing down on them.
"Incredible," Sakura whispered as the air around Naruto and Yumi began to ripple and distort from the intensity. "This isn't going to be pretty."
Just out of sight of Konoha's walls, the Mizukage stopped and looked back at the village. He snorted as a puff of smoke enveloped him to reveal a man with a swirl-like mask with a single eyehole from which a glared a cold Sharingan, his body swathed in the cloak of the Akatsuki.
Tobi smirked beneath his mask. "Who would have guessed," the rogue said to himself. "Naruto-kun is in fact the Oto missing-nin. Itachi-kun should be rather pleased to hear that his target has been located."
He sank into the ground and was gone.
In the arena, two blurs bounced off each other in a shower of sparks, resolving into Yumi and Naruto, each clinging to the much-abused walls of the arena.
"Not bad, Naruto!" Yumi called. "Try this!" She charged, her left hand flying through a set of one-handed seals. "Katon! Housenka no Jutsu!" A barrage of fireballs flew from her mouth, arcing for Naruto like meteors.
The blond ducked, tumbled, rolled and zig zagged, all in an effort to avoid getting scorched. He came out of a roll closer to Yumi than she'd predicted and both swords flashed, coming together with an echoing ring and another flash of sparks. The blades locked, each straining to overpower the other before Naruto shifted and lashed out with a roundhouse, though Yumi softened the blow by getting her shoulder into it, as a result only skidding a few feet, but there was no time for a reprieve.
Naruto was in her face, sword dancing like a silver snake, pressing his advantage as she strained to keep up with his lightning-fast strokes.
He came in too slow on a thrust, which Yumi batted away then snapped her foot up, catching Naruto in the chin, lifting him from his feet before her katana flashed and Naruto's went flying, blood spraying onto the ground behind him.
Kazekiri stuck, quivering in the soil, keen edge glinting. The gold-eyed kunoichi pulled her blade back, freeing it from Naruto's blood-slicked grip. At the last moment, the man had thrown his katana away and grabbed the blade of Yumi's, taking a vicious cut in the palm of his hand.
Blood flew from the wound as Naruto flicked his hand to get some of the fluid off, though his steely gaze never wavered, keeping locked on Yumi's.
"Naruto's fighting like a different person," Tenten observed from next to Neji. "It's almost a total one-eighty from when we sparred."
The Hyuuga's pearly eyes flicked over his teammate before being drawn to the motion Naruto made when he flung himself backwards, catching the hilt of his katana and rolling to his feet in one smooth motion. He whipped it to test the grip he had then they were gone in a blur of flashing sliver and orange sparks.
Neji nodded. "It's no surprise. A life-and-death is very different from a casual spar. In addition, he's spent five years living on his own and fighting on his own. His fighting style is bound to change."
Below, Naruto and Yumi reappeared, Naruto beginning to show signs of strain. His breathing was deepening and he was beginning to sweat somewhat. He didn't often move at these speeds, mostly using it for high-speed assassinations. Sustaining it was starting to tax him, and he needed to stay as fresh as he could for Ayame later.
"You look tired, Naruto," Yumi taunted. Naruto snorted, matching her smirk with one of his own.
"Just getting warmed up," he said.
"Really? Then, how about a round two?"
"I was wondering when you'd ask." Yumi vanished, reappeared then swung. The abrupt speed took Naruto off-guard, and his sword went flying to stick in the wall on the far side of the arena. "Shit!"
A second swing and blood sprayed, Naruto skidding backward, his shirt flapping from the diagonal gash torn in it, clutching at the wound beneath it. Thankfully, he'd managed to get enough distance to soften the blow.
"Not so high and mighty now, huh?" She licked the blade clean with obvious relish. "What'll you do now?"
Naruto gave her a sardonic fox grin and wiped the blood from the gash. Except the gash was healing up.
Soon, where a wound had been, was only a thin pink line that looked as if it'd happened within the last few months, not seconds. Next Yumi noticed that the wound on Naruto's hand was gone too.
"You've gotten faster at that."
"Amazing right?"
"No, just irritating." The duo sprinted at each other again, Yumi's katana flicking out to try and take another taste of Naruto's blood, but the blond moved a hair to his right, getting inside the thrust, then grabbing Yumi's wrist, turned into her, and launched the kunoichi over his shoulder.
Yumi felt shocked for a moment before shifting her weight to get her feet under her, gold eyes widening when a flurry of kunai flew at her. Once again, the sword in her hand flashed, knocking the weapons out of the air, landing in a skid, getting ready to stab at Naruto, who was running straight at her, looking determined.
'Useless' she though confidently, the keen blade sticking into the surprised blonde's chest.
He vanished in a burst of smoke.
"No!" Naruto burst from the smoke left by the Shadow Clone, driving his fist into Yumi's cheek, throwing her away to skid over the ground, tumbling head over heels, her sword arcing into the air, which Naruto caught, red chakra surging up his arm to heat the blade till it glowed cherry-red, then the blond bent it into a U shape.
Yumi sat up, then threw herself flat again as her deformed sword spun at her. When she stood up, she noticed that Naruto had used the brief interval to snatch up his katana.
"Well you have the advantage," the red-clad kunoichi said with a smirk. To her surprise, Naruto summoned his scabbard and slammed the blade home then resealed the katana. "What's this? Don't tell me you actually plan to fight fair?"
Naruto smirked. "It wouldn't mean anything if I didn't."
"Oh? Never took you to be such a boy-scout, Naru-chan." Naruto's response was to dash straight at her again, leaping into the air, forcing Yumi to shield her eyes from the sun as she watched, the jumping genin corkscrewing in flight to crash down on the arm Yumi used to block.
The blonde's hands danced on the ground, spinning around in a handstand to slam his other leg into her shoulder, knocking her off balance before Naruto collapsed into a spin, sweeping Yumi of her feet, rolling to avoid the impact of Naruto's follow-up axe kick.
Yumi kicked up to her feet before spinning to face the blond. She wiped a thin sheen of sweat from her brow.
"Wow, not bad."
The Jinchuuriki's response was to fling a kunai at her, which Yumi caught with a deft flick of her hand.
"A kunai? You've got to be kidding me!"
Naruto grinned. There was an explosion and the smoke bomb that the blond had wedged in the ring of the knife went off, obscuring the surprised kunoichi in a cloud of white smoke. She swore as viciously as Naruto himself did sometimes, then zeroed in on a bright blue dot that traveled up into the air.
The smoke cleared for a moment, revealing Naruto descending on her with a bright sphere of swirling chakra clenched in his grip.
"Rasengan!"
Yumi grinned then made a seal. "First Gate!" Naruto blinked, wishing he could speed up his descent but knowing that it was impossible. "Kai!" The Rasengan exploded as it hit the ground where Yumi had been standing there just an instant before.
"Dammit!"
"Too bad, so sad, Naru-chan!" A foot flew from nowhere and snapped his head over, sending him tumbling over the ground, much as he'd done to Yumi earlier. Before he could get his wits back, another vicious kick to the spine sent him skyward. "Wow, still slow, huh?" Yumi asked from behind him.
Red chakra flared around Naruto then coalesced into a claw, batting her away with a brief hiss as the scalding youki made contact with her bare arm. Both ninja twirled and twisted to land on their feet, the nebulous chakra vanishing, though the kunoichi knew that the threat of the chakra returning was very real.
Yumi blinked when she found herself staring into demonic crimson eyes.
She grinned, her killing intent beginning to intensify along with the temperature. She also could feel the blood lust of the Kyuubi beginning to leak into the air as well, like a foul scent or the tingly, tickling presence that danced along the edges of perception, neither material nor a figment of imagination.
Both fighters stared each other down for a moment then vanished, only reappearing to clash together before bouncing apart again, faster and faster until the stadium was filled with the thunderous clashes that followed on the heels of one another so fast that it was impossible to tell where one left off and another began.
Only the higher-ranked jounin and more powerful chuunin were able to tell just where the two were at, but it didn't matter because they appeared in freefall, hands flying together in seal after seal.
"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" There was an explosion, and when it cleared, it revealed the ground of the area, from the dirt to the tree tops, filled to bursting with Naruto and Yumi clones, each one looking ready to do battle.
"This should get interesting," Tsunade remarked to no one in particular.
There was silence, spiraling chakra and rising killing intent, then the mass of red, orange, and black surged forward and clashed before becoming a whirl of color, punctuated here and there by blooms of smoke that quickly escalated.
Amid the chaotic hurricane of movement and smoke was the two originals, who by some coincidence known only to fate and the Kami, had found each other. Yumi dashed forward, right hand speeding for Naruto's face. He stepped in, pushing the hit away before launching one of his own. His steely red eyes narrowed as Yumi used that fist as leverage, doing a handstand for a moment before dropping, heels aimed at Naruto's chest.
The blonde threw himself backwards, touching his fingertips to the ground for a brief moment as hard leather passed mere centimeters from his nose, close enough for him to feel the body heat wash over him. The former missing-nin kicked up and over, trying to mimic the other shinobi and slam his feet into her skull, the bottom of his sandals glowing red-hot with youki, coming right at her like a branding iron.
Yumi twisted, getting clear, touching down to skid away, knowing that she had the advantage since she was at his back. She pulled out the scroll from her fight with Konohamaru, unsealing a sickle with a ball and chain, whipping the sickle end at the blond, who looked surprised when the blade suddenly wound up protruding from his chest.
Naruto fell forward, thudding to the ground with a finality that echoed throughout the arena, which had gone dead silent at the ferocity of the battle so far, since it seemed that both parties were evenly matched.
Yumi waited a moment to see if Naruto was getting back up. When the blond didn't stir, she stood with a victorious smirk on her face.
"Too bad, Naru-chan," she said to the corpse. "I guess you just didn't have it in you to beat me again."
Genma looked down at the lifeless genin with a gaze that might've almost been pity. He'd sort of liked the rambunctious shinobi when he'd been in the exams the first time. The kid's triumph over the frozen genius had been one for the record books, but as much as Genma wanted it, it didn't look as if the former missing-nin would be standing up some time soon.
His hand raised. "Winner…"
There was a sound like ice snapping on a frozen lake, then the ground at Yumi's feet exploded outward, a shadowy figure shot from below, the fist driving up into the kunoichi's jaw, lifting her off her feet and sending her smashing into the wall in a gout of debris and powderized concrete.
Astonished murmurs filled the air like the hissing embers of a dying flame as the spectators wondered how Naruto had done it. Yumi staggered out from the cloud of settling dust with a look that said she was going to kill Naruto.
"How?"
Naruto smirked. "I had an extra clone hidden away during that little war. I switched with him at the last moment."
"But that clone should've dispelled!" Yumi almost sounded like she was whining about what had happened.
Naruto outright grinned. "I put a little extra chakra into the clone. He could take way more damage than usual." As if to prove his point, the limp Naruto on the ground puffed out of existence, leaving Yumi's sickle laying in its place, which she called back to her hand with a deft flick of the wrist.
The crowd grew silent as the two prepared to attack each other once again. Yumi knew she was at the disadvantage now. Naruto had an immense amount of stamina, and with the youki enhancing it, this could get very ugly very fast.
She had to end this in one shot, though she didn't have an end-all jutsu like Naruto did, but she was an excellent shot with weapons and the like. She was one of the great weapon masters in the world and she would need every ounce of that skill now. Again she reached for the scroll, sealed away her sickle, then summoned a new weapon, a staff with a spearhead on each end.
It was a rather exotic weapon, one not really used by shinobi or samurai or even mercenaries, but rather by the warrior monks that lived high in Mountain Country, who were all ruthlessly deadly with it. It was said that even Akatsuki thought twice about screwing with the monks.
She removed the sheaths that capped each blade, making sure that she didn't allow herself to be nicked by the keen edge that seemed to catch the light and radiate it out. There was a poison on the blades, one so potent in fact, that it was even rumored to be able to kill a Bijou with enough hits.
The poison itself was a secret mix that only a select few shinobi in the world knew the exact mix, and those who did often guarded it like their own child and more than a few took the secret to their graves. How Yumi had gotten her hands on it was a mystery even to her, since Sasame had been in charge at the time, but the fact was that she'd gotten it and now Naru-chan would feel the full fury of it.
A few experimental swings and spins to test the balance and Yumi leveled it at the blond.
"Come on," she said confidently.
'Careful, brat,' The Kyuubi said, sounding, in Naruto's opinion, almost nervous. 'I can smell poison on that blade, one deadly even to us demons.'
'What!?'
Yumi lunged, thrusting. Naruto dodged, then found himself on the receiving end of a blitz as the red-clad kunoichi, thrust, spun, kicked, lunged, thrust again and again, reversed, keeping him on the defensive. The attacks were flowing easily and rapidly, keeping him from finding an opening or even getting his balance for an attack.
'This isn't good.'
'Oh, you think? Here, use this.' Naruto's senses seemed to come alive as he felt more youki surge through his system, energizing his muscles and getting him to move faster.
Again, only the higher-ups in the crowd were able to tell what was going on as Naruto and Yumi danced around each other, desperately trying to hit or not to get hit.
The staff passed an inch over the blonde's shoulder, but he only spared a quick glance before he shot forward, only to skid to a stop and bounce back, flinging some shuriken to cover himself as Yumi flipped the staff and whirled it so fast it was nothing but a blur, the second blade coming close enough for the Jinchuuriki to hear it slice the air, the stars clinking harmlessly of the hurricane of wood and metal.
Naruto wanted to scream in frustration. Yumi had the range, and thus, the advantage. The staff was much longer than Naruto's reach, which meant that the kunoichi could shred him into tonight's sashimi while staying perfectly unharmed herself. Shuriken and kunai also seemed to be worthless as her skill was such that she could knock them out of the air with barely a thought, something he'd only seen Tenten do until now.
The spear-staff flew at him.
Naruto blinked then threw his body sideways, pushing so much youki into his feet that he actually turned the ground beneath his sandals to glass. He was off balance when he did it though, and rammed his shoulder into the wall of the arena, which was looking more and more like it would come down at any minute, since Moegi had set off a bunch of explosive tags on it, Konohamaru had been put in it, as had Yumi, and that was just scratching the surface.
Yumi gave a tug, the wire she'd tied onto the end of the staff's handle glinting as it soared back to her, deftly catching and whirling it back to a ready stance.
Naruto grinned. He had a plan. Whispering to Kyuubi, he pretended to tug fruitlessly to free his arm, which he'd instinctively flung out to catch his impact with the wall. Kyuubi snickered and complied, both demon and Jinchuuriki grinning when they thought of how much Yumi would be surprised in a few moments.
Sure enough, the kunoichi charged, looking thrilled at the prospect of getting to run Naruto through and kill both him and Kyuubi.
She leapt into the air, looking almost joyful at Naruto's impending doom.
A spot on the wall glowed bright red, as if something was heating the barrier from behind. A second later, the spot burst outward, like a bubble in a lava flow bursting, and from it shot a massive red claw.
"Shit!" Yumi cursed as she brought her staff up to guard, allowing the claw to slam into her with enough force to make her arms go numb and slam her into the other side of the arena, right next to where she'd thrown that brat friend of the blonde's.
The Jinchuuriki tugged, his demonic claw tearing a furrow in the wall of the stadium as it was ripped free, then nebulous crimson youki enveloped him and he thrust his other arm forward, a second claw shooting at Yumi, who managed to shove off the first and roll along the wall to dodge, but she was brought up short when the first claw changed course and slammed into the wall right in front of her, the first claw closing up so she was sandwiched between them.
The arms tightened, like a chain about to haul up an anchor, and sure enough, Naruto was speeding feet first toward her, with a snarl on his face that seemed to freeze her legs in place.
Spectators and Kages alike gripped their seats as a massive explosion erupted below them, the smoke cloud filling the arena, hiding the outcome from them. Two pillars spiked from the top of the cloud, two red figures emerging, one in red clothing, the other seemed to be bathed in fire.
The battle heated up again as the two dueled in free-fall, Naruto's claws lancing out again and again as Yumi contorted and twisted, staff spinning in a constant blur, guiding the chakra claws past her and also fighting off the appendages that sprouted from the arms of the crimson energy like a mutant plant.
The two main claws shot past the falling kunoichi again, then two new claws sprouted from them, effectively trapping the woman in their grasp. With a sizzle that was clearly heard around the silent arena, Yumi was caught up in their grip, the woman screaming as her exposed flesh was instantly seared and burned by the fiery youki. The secondary claws drew back and flung her straight down into the ground with enough force to rock the entire village.
Naruto touched down, his claws retracting as he settled into a stance that Tenten had showed him.
'BEHIND YOU!'
Kyuubi's scream gave Naruto an instant migraine that made it feel like his head was splitting down the middle but he reacted, twisting to the side, by instinct forming a Rasengan in his hand, driven into his head by countless ambushes as a missing-nin. He grunted in pain as Yumi's spear-staff bit viciously at his arm, then he was clear, his hand snapping forward.
Yumi was dazed. She had been keeping her gate open ever since the beginning, trying to overwhelm that damned blond she was fighting. That had been the biggest mistake she'd ever made. Despite all her efforts, Naruto had forced her to fight on his terms, a long and drawn-out match that had taxed her stamina to its limits. During the brief times that Sasame and Yumi had talked, Sasame had always told her other personality that she was too reckless, though Yumi had always laughed it off. Now she was seeing that maybe the happier personality had a point.
As it was, she was burned, the skin on her arms blackened and already blistering, even in the dank and cool crater she was currently residing in. Blood leaked into her eye from a cut on her forehead and she felt like she was going to throw up, probably from a concussion. Naruto and his damned demon had thrown her headfirst into the hard rock after all. That was what Konoha was known for. Despite having one of the most beautiful forests in the world, its soil was clay and often had boulders buried in it.
She felt like she had hit one of those things when she'd been buried. To top it off, her staff, her precious staff, was snapped in half and one of the blades had shattered. She knew that from the slivers of silver that were resting on her body like small needles. Thankfully, none of them had broken her skin; otherwise she would've been dead now, not even able to lament her mistakes.
If there was one silver lining in this cloud, it was that she still had one blade left and enough of the handle to use it as a sword. She would win this. She would kill Naruto. The scar on her back seemed to pulse in response to her anger, the pain waking her up. It was time.
She made a few hand seals, keeping her chakra as suppressed as she could. The earth beneath her rippled and distorted and she sank into it, crawling on all fours through the dank and dark earth, relying on her senses to guide her to where she thought Naruto would be. To her surprise, the heat from the Kyuubi's youki had leeched into the ground, so she was able to get behind him. She set herself up for the attack, holding her staff's remains tightly she prepared to shoot up through the earth and impale the Jinchuuriki through the lungs. Yumi tried to keep her bloodlust under control. The killing intent would alert Naruto to where she was and that was something she didn't need.
The blond hadn't shifted for the past few seconds. It was now or never. She coiled her muscles like a panther about to attack its prey, and jumped, shooting straight up through the ground, bursting into daylight, her spear held out.
To her shock and surprise, her target spun, a Rasengan flaring to life in his hand, his crimson eyes boring into hers, but she smirked in victory as she noticed her blade bite into his arm, a glancing blow, but it was enough. The poison was in Naruto's system and the chances were that he wouldn't live through the day.
Then the Rasengan slammed into her gut and she knew no more.
"YUMI!" Now it was Ayame's turn to shout out a name as Naruto's jutsu slammed into her sister's stomach, drilling a hole the size of a baseball into the kunoichi's flesh. It didn't look that bad, but right after he'd hit Yumi and burrowed in, the woman's back had burst open, a huge spray of blood shooting out to cover the ground.
Naruto tried not to hurl his breakfast all over Yumi's face, even if it would've added insult to injury. His hand was buried up to the base of his fingers in the kunoichi's stomach, blood gushing out and covering his hand in a crimson tide, though that wasn't the issue. What was the issue, however, was that his fingers were currently buried in her intestines, and that was making him want to hurl. With a wet sucking noise, he pulled his hand free, Yumi slumping forward onto the ground without a noise, blood pooling beneath her as it leaked from the hole drilled into her abdomen.
Ayame was down on the floor of the arena in the blink of an eye, checking her sister's pulse. Tears started running down her cheeks as she pulled away, and stood up, her mouth moving soundlessly, probably speaking last words to her sister. Her hand clenched, balling into a fist and killing intent filled the air like a fog, hanging like a moist blanket over the arena.
She glared at Naruto hatred, livid rage, and a desire for revenge flashing through her eyes one after another, her chakra reacting to her emotions and spiking high, to those who could sense chakra feeling like a geyser that never seemed to quit.
Naruto, however, caught an underlying tinge that reminded him of something, something he should've known well and intimately, but he just couldn't place it for the life of him.
'So, that's it huh?' Kyuubi remarked. 'I was wondering what it would be.'
'What are you talking about, furball?' The blond cage said to his tenant, not in the mood for the demon's word games.
The genin could feel the demon's grin. 'You'll see. Looks like we might get more than we bargained for here.'
Naruto sighed. 'Never try to get a straight answer out of a demon fox.'
Ayame's growl cut into the pair's conversation. "Uzumaki Naruto, I'm going to kill you!"
She brushed a hand across her seals and called a pair of kunai into her hands before throwing one and running right behind it.
Naruto drew a kunai of his own.
"Great, here we go again."
That's the end of the chapter. Hope you enjoyed it. I know Naruto's been poisoned, and that's going to come up later in the fights, so just be patient on that. Other than that, R&R please and thanks to all of you who've reviewed, favorited and put it on your alert list. It really makes my day. I know this fight may have been lackluster, but once the story ends I think I'll go back and rewrite some of the chapters that I think need the most work, so look forward to that. Well that's all I got, so have a good day, evening, morning, depending on which time zone you happen to be in and I'll see you next chapter.