NARUTO
Nox Noctis Ingredior
The Final Test part 1
The incident following the break in at Naruto's estate had everybody on their toes. Security tightened significantly, especially on the day of the third and final part of the Chunin Exams. The Third Hokage moved a majority of his ANBU to monitor the arena for the big day, as well as station all of his available in-village Jonin and Chunin around the entirety of Konohagakure's perimeter. As much as Konoha's leader felt that he should cancel the event and focus more attention on the impending attack, he also felt that he had to settle business once and for all, particularly with Orochimaru. Since the Chunin Exams were a great tradition in the Hidden Leaf, he just couldn't bring himself to stop it.
Hiruzen also had great faith in his shinobi, and when the time of the attack came, his forces would be ready.
He learned all he could from Kin and Temari, the two of them also attending the exams, sitting comfortably in the stands in the front rows. Those Genin who could also make it to the event, including Tenten, Lee, Choji and Shikamaru, sat up at the front as well, while their Jonin senseis hung back, keeping an eye on things, and also eager to see how the fights would turn out. All the training their students had thrown in the past month was all for this, and they were just hoping it wasn't all for naught. The only Jonin who didn't seem to be on edge was Anko, her face covered in bandages and her mouth full of dango. As nerve rattled as she was about the attack that had taken place about a week ago, she had been able to sleep soundly knowing that the assailants were driven off, and were unsuccessful in acquiring their target.
Just to be safe though, Naruto and the others left Haru in the care of Mia, who had taken the little brave tiger on a shopping spree. Since Mia had been out most of that day at the hot springs and chatting it up with the locals, she wasn't there when the attack on his house occurred, and she was incredibly surprised when she came home and found the whole place torn to pieces.
Today, Naruto gave her and Little Haru free reign on one of his many accounts, and gave them permission to run wild around town.
Zabuza was hospitalized for his injuries, with Haku deciding to hang around by his master's side, unable to attend the exams. The man cursed all day when Naruto and his friends popped in to visit him, disappointed that he was unable to lie on his front, which also meant he wasn't able to masturbate; much to the chagrin of Sakura, who gave him a punch to the back of his head as her 'get well' present. He shut his mouth after that.
As the crowds flocked to their seats, including the many distinguished Lords and diplomats attending the proceedings, the Genin that made it to the finals assembled in the arena below. Lee was the very first to arrive with Gai, both of them giving their victory peace sign to the people already present, before his teacher retreated to the stands, wishing the boy the best.
Kankuro and Gaara were next to arrive, accompanied by their team leader Baki. The Jonin quickly reminded them of their plans, before he too disappeared to the stands. However, the two Sand Siblings had no intention with following through with their Kazekage's attack plans, but kept this fact to themselves. Kiba and Ino shortly arrived next, and were then followed in by Miki and Takagura a few minutes later, the hooded Kiri Genin standing away from the rest of the competition and instead, took to glaring up at the stands.
Surprisingly enough, their Jonin teacher wasn't anywhere to be seen, which caught Anko's attention.
"Keep an eye out for the big Kiri Jonin," Anko whispered, nudging Kakashi in the shoulder hard. The silver haired man looked down at Team 7's leader. "I have no idea what he really has in store, but stay on guard…"
Kakashi nodded, and passed on the message to Asuma, who then passed it on to Kurenai in kind. As the murmuring in the crowd grew steadily more in volume, the Genin of Team 7 finally arrived, escorted by Jiraiya himself. The white haired man made sure to pass them on to Ryoko before he left; the red haired woman standing in the middle of the field with her arms folded, and making sure that all of the participants were present and everything was in order. She nodded to the Sannin as she took them off his hands.
"You know what's happening, don't you?" Ryoko asked the old pervert, who smirked and nodded back.
"That my old teammate is in town, yeah," he murmured, Naruto, Sakura and Hinata forming a line in front of Ryoko. The other Genin, seeing them arrive, joined them, and also formed up before the ever growing crowd.
The sight of the hundreds of people in attendance had the Genin straighten up respectively, displaying great pride at being there, and also not wanting to appear weak before the spectators. Jiraiya turned to the stands above as well, spotting his old teacher sitting up on the balcony high above, plain in sight. "I'm not exactly sure how the old man plans to go through with this, but I'm making sure I'm right next to him when this whole thing decides to go south…"
Ryoko nodded to him and also looked up towards the Third Hokage. "I also heard Hikita is in town too…"
"Your old teammate?"
"Tsk… he was never our teammate…"
"Will you be alright down here?" Jiraiya asked, smiling curiously at the woman. The red head nodded, but instead directed her smirk up towards the crowds. "I mean, can you handle the pressure?"
"Please… I once fought a bunch of Iwa Nin who tried to jump me in the hot springs, and I was butt naked throughout the whole incident," Ryoko laughed. The old mountain sage looked the woman, dressed in her tightly worn Konoha Jonin uniform, up and down once to get a complete picture, and as a result, developed a small nosebleed. "I'm used to any kind of pressure…"
"Good to know," Jiraiya shoved his fingers up his nose to stop the flow. After which, he turned to Naruto, who was looking up at him from under his armored straw hat. He was wearing his white and black trench coat as well, with a kunai-handle trench knife strapped to his right shoulder, and an unidentifiable scroll on his back. The old man nodded to his apprentice, who nodded back, with Sakura and Hinata, wearing the same outfits they wore before, also looking up at their boyfriend's master. "Good luck."
"Thanks Ero-Sennin…" Naruto smirked.
Exchanging smiles, Jiraiya vanished in a shunshin, reappearing beside the Third Hokage a few seconds later, and stepping out of the shadows with tissue stuffed up his nostrils. He traded places with Genma, who headed off elsewhere to oversee the defenses in preparation for the coming attack. The Third looked up at his student when he arrived, who stood proudly with his arms folded.
"Surprised to see you here," Sarutobi exclaimed. Jiraiya grinned.
"Don't be. I'm just here for pleasure, not business."
"Well, let's hope your presence lightens things up a little," Hiruzen removed the pipe from his mouth and stood. Looking to his left, he saw Sunagakure's Kage approaching, fully robed and wearing a cloth for a veil, covering the bottom half of his face from the eyes down. He was accompanied by two, rather tall Suna guards, both of them wearing beige, and looking quite shady. "Kazekage! Glad you made it!"
"Hiruzen… it's been a while," the Kage replied, eye-smiling at the old man and bowing in greeting. The Third nodded back politely as the man took his seat in the middle, his guards taking up positions on either side of him. "I hope these… proceedings go well…"
"Oh don't worry my friend. You're in for a bit of a surprise," Sarutobi replied, tipping his hat towards the younger village leader. "Two of your children have made it into the finals, fighting against the best my village has to offer. This should be most promising…"
"Yes… yes it should…" the Kazekage replied, just as Kirigakure's Mizukage entered the balcony.
The brown haired woman stepped onto the balcony with great grace, her appearance immediately capturing the attentions of both Hiruzen and Jiraiya. The old village leader of Konohagakure tried to maintain composure, but just lost it when he was finally able to get a good look at the Village Hidden in the Mist's new Kage.
Mei Terumi was certainly a sight to behold, the Fifth Mizukage wearing her Kage hat and dark blue, snugly warm battle-dress, showing off quite a bit of her cleavage. If Jiraiya hadn't had his nose plugged, he would just be gushing with red juice.
Accompanied by her guards Ao and Chojuro, one of the newest members of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist, the Mizukage approached her seat. She removed her hat and waved it like a fan when she arrived, and smiled in a kind manner towards the gawking Third Hokage. She paid his expression little mind.
"Sarutobi, if you open your mouth any further, your jaw will fall off," she giggled.
Clearing his throat and adjusting his suddenly tighter robe around his collar, Hiruzen smiled and bowed back to the young lady.
"Mizukage-sama, it is an honor," he exclaimed. "How are things back in Kirigakure?"
"Chaotic," she sighed, sliding gracefully into her seat and crossing her legs. Jiraiya couldn't help but stare as her dress hiked up her smooth thigh on that action. "Even after the Civil War, things are still a bit far south. We're just starting to pick up the pieces…"
"Well, I am sure that today's events will help lighten your mood," Hiruzen nodded. Chojuro and Ao took up defensive positions around their village leader, and looked down at the field, taking note of the shady Genin from the village, unaware that it was two of the most familiar figures from their ranks taking part in the exams.
The Kazekage glared at the Mizukage from under his hat, a bit concerned about how his plans would go, now that not only was Jiraiya accompanying the Third Hokage, but now he had to deal with the village leader of Kirigakure also. Hopefully, the chaos would help him carry off the old man with little issues.
Mei turned to the Kazekage and smiled, the man's glare softening when she turned to him. "It is so good to see you again, Kazekage-sama."
"Likewise," the man tipped his hat back at her, earning a giggle from the brown haired kunoichi.
"Why on earth are you wearing that veil? It's so hot out now…"
"We Sand Shinobi care little about the heat," the Kazekage replied, chuckling. "The sun does not bother me."
"Oh… so true…"
After the brief exchange of pleasantries between the three village leaders, Sarutobi stepped forward and focused attention on the arena below. Clearing his throat, he threw his arms out, and gave the speech he had been saving all day, silencing the murmuring crowds.
"Welcome ladies and gentlemen, and thank you for your patience! As Hokage of the Village Hidden in the Leaves, I would like to personally thank each and every one of you for coming to attend this year's Chunin Exams," Hiruzen exclaimed, looking around at the crowds. "I would like to add, it is an honor to see so many distinguished members of the public in the audience, and that I must stress you all remained seated, until the rounds of this stage of the exam are over. So sit back and enjoy…"
Sakura looked left and right towards the Genin who have managed to make it to the finals, becoming reacquainted with the familiar faces. She saw that Gaara and Kankuro were glaring up towards the balcony where their Kazekage was sitting, looking quite displeased at the sight of their father. She also noticed that, not only was Takagura still completely covered in his hood and cloak, with his staff still hanging unused on his back, but she also noticed that Miki had her parasol up, angling it above her to avoid the stares from the Mizukage in the stands. Sakura understood Miki's intentions entirely, based on her position this whole thing, but decided to dispense of these thoughts.
"Well… it looks like everybody is as ready as they'll ever be…" Sakura thought, looking down the way a bit. "Lee is all fired up, Ino looks like she has upped her game a little… and I think Kankuro changed his face paint pattern…"
Ryoko stepped in front of the assembled Genin and smirked at them, hands on her hips.
"I see that you're all eager to go," the red headed swordswoman exclaimed. "Well then. You all know the rules… right; there are none! The winner of each match will be decided on the battle's final outcome, whether one of the candidates concedes defeat or sadly dies during the battle. Of course, I will step in to stop the fight to avoid any unnecessary bloodshed, but hey…" She licked her lips. "Where's the fun without a bit of blood, eh?"
Naruto grinned, with Gaara smirking in excitement, and the rest of the Genin standing on either side of the two jinchuriki bracing themselves in their own ways. When the proctor saw each of them give her their bravest faces, the woman nodded her head and gave them the thumbs up, before gesturing over her shoulder with the same hand.
"The first match is between Ino Yamanaka and Rock Lee! Those of you, whose names have not been allotted into this fight, please go up to the waiting area until your names are called for your matches!" Ryoko waved them off. The entirety of Team 7 and the other Genin exchanged brief glances with each other, before proceeding to the stairs leading up to the balcony reserved for them. In the meantime, Ino and Lee assumed their positions on the arena floor, standing at a comfortable distance away from one another, with Ryoko in the middle.
As she was looking down towards the battle arena far below, the Mizukage seated comfortably up on the VIP balcony, suddenly recognized the red haired woman proctoring the matches, and leaned forward, blinking in surprise.
"Oh… it's Ryoko-chan!" she smiled happily. "Wow! It's been a while since I last saw her…"
"I believe… she is one of your Seven Ninja Swordsmen turned Konoha shinobi… my dear," the Kazekage whispered, glancing over at the astounded woman. He was hoping to provoke a bit of instability between her village and this one by egging on a rather touching subject, and hoping she would side with him on this matter. If he could gain her favor, then the Kage would be in a better position to recruit another powerful ally. "It's such a shame to lose such a valued comrade to another's side, particularly one so close to you…"
Chojuro frowned at the Kazekage at his attitude, but chose not to act on it, after seeing the headshake warning from Ao. Instead, the young swordsman decided to focus on the field, and enjoy the fights.
"Ryoko-sensei…huh? It really has been a while since any of us last saw her… ever since she left the village in search of Kisame Hoshigaki…" Chojuro furrowed his brow. "I never imagined… she would turn herself over to Konoha… and become one of them…"
"I remember you sent me a message, Hiruzen," Mei continued, looking over at the worried old man. "You said you had come into contact with not one, but two of my former shinobi… is that right?"
"Yes it is, Mizukage-sama," Sarutobi replied, smiling over at her. "It's our village's policy to extend our hands to those in need, regardless of their origins. When we found, Ryoko she was a little lost, and it was thanks to one of our own she was able to turn over a new leaf." The old man removed the pipe from his mouth and looked over at the woman, trying to keep a calm and collected face. "As I understand it, you two were good friends at one point back in your village, yes?"
Mei, her face a bit red, giggled and lay back into her seat. "We were young, and times were tough, especially for my people. Out of all of my village's shinobi, Ryoko was perhaps one of the kindest shinobi I have ever met, and perhaps one of the most well developed in terms of her personal beliefs. She didn't care about the Kekkei Genkai or what our village's policies were at the time; she just lived to serve the people and our Kage." The woman sighed happily, earning a rather lecherous look from Jiraiya as he quietly turned away and began jotting down notes. "As long as she is happy where she is… that is fine with me."
"Lesbian village leaders, this is gold!" Jiraiya giggled, his pen scribbling away out of sight.
"So… you are okay with her being with us?" Sarutobi asked.
"Of course," Mei looked down at the arena, focusing more interest on the combatants. "I mean, things will be alright as long as Zabuza doesn't cause any trouble for us. But other then that, I believe cooperation between our people and yours will be very beneficial for both our villages. It can help strengthen our alliance with each other, don't you agree, Lord Hokage?"
"My thoughts exactly, Mizukage-sama," Sarutobi replied, nodding his head. "Hopefully, later onwards, we can discuss new terms on our trade and shinobi policies…"
"Of course…"
The former swordswoman of the Village Hidden in the Mists waited till the other competitors were out of sight and up in their balcony overlooking the arena. Once they were set and ready, she proceeded on with her duties. "Alright then, if everyone is ready…" She looked between Lee and Ino, the two of them staring at each other intensely. Ryoko raised her right hand, and after a few seconds, she smirked and dropped it. "Go for it!"
Lee smirked and assumed a fighting stance, right arm behind him and left hand held up, his basic fighting form that he started with in every conflict. Ino, sweating a bit nervously, took in a deep breath and also assumed a fighting stance. The one she started with surprised a lot of the Genin who knew her, as well as Asuma and Kurenai in the stands high above.
"Hang on… I recognize that stance," Sakura whispered, leaning over the railing to get a better look, while glancing over at Naruto, who was smiling with his arms folded. "Don't tell me you had the time to teach her that?"
The blonde shrugged back. "It's a style I knew would do well against Lee's. While my bushy-browed friend focused a lot on his sensei's flamboyant style of taijutsu, I taught Ino wing-chun style when she came to me for help, a form of fighting I knew would be right up her ally." Naruto raised an eyebrow, and glanced over at his teammates, who were both looking at him curiously. "But I didn't just teach her some of my stuff. You forget; Zabuza also had her under his wing for a lot of the month…"
"Hmm…" Kurenai furrowed her brow, looking over at an equally surprised Asuma, a passive Kakashi, and a happily eating Anko. "Do any of you know how strong Ino has gotten, exactly?"
"I wasn't keeping tabs on her that much," Kakashi shrugged.
"Neither have I… man… these dumplings are delicious," Anko giggled through mouthfuls of her favorite treat. Asuma looked at the purple haired woman oddly, who used one of her dango filled sticks to scratch her hair, before eating off of it.
Kurenai frowned. "That's disgusting, Anko…"
"What?" Anko mumbled over, her cheeks full and puffed up like a blow fish. The Jonin just ignored her, and turned their attention back to the Genin in the arena.
"In comparison to Rock Lee, I don't think my student will be able to hold up against the boy for very long, to be honest," Asuma murmured, rubbing his chin in thought as he stared intently down at Ino. "After the first half of the month, she just seemed to drop off the grid for a bit. I knew that Zabuza was training her since I put him up to the challenge, but I think she's also gotten training from somebody else in her free time…"
Smiling, Lee glared down his opponent with a noble-fighter's respect, and nodded to her. "Let us make this a fun one, Ino-chan!"
Ino smiled back and nodded. "Let's…"
Without another word, Lee dashed at her, leaping through the air, he came in with a spinning air kick, bringing his hurricane of a leg down onto her. The bleach blonde saw this and quickly slid back, avoiding the blow that connected with the solid earth and split it, sending dust and debris flying everyone as she moved back to avoid. Skidding to a stop, Ino assumed a more defensive stance, one that Naruto showed her, and watched as Lee gained a better footing and lunged at her again.
Ino held her ground and raised both hands up and out ahead of her, watching as Lee attacked. As soon as he came in with a right side kick, she whacked it away with a firm block and slid into his attack range. Then, with surprising speed displayed in her fist work, Ino struck her opponent three times in the chest then hooked across his face, the boy staggering back and withdrawing his leg, leaping away. Ino remained where she was, reassuming a more stable stance and balanced herself out.
Lee, retreating to a safer distance, dropped into a more appropriate stance for this confrontation. Frowning, he crouched briefly for a spring-loaded start, and charged; hooking around to Ino's left in his dash. He swung in with a right hook, followed by a left, backwards-roundhouse kick, a right side kick, a left roundhouse kick, a left hook, a right punch, a left hook, and so on, pressing on combinations swiftly, backed up a by a lot of physical power. Ino however, stepping back little by little, met each incoming attack head on with swift hand maneuvers, parries and blocks, swiping out in every expected direction to block each incoming kick and punch, making sure to shield her entire upper body from his assualt. She recognized a pattern with Lee's attacks in which he attempted to strike at his opponent's head and chest more often then their limbs, and capitalized on that.
Going through exactly what Naruto showed her on the wooden man, Ino managed to block and effectively stop most of Lee's attacks, bringing her leg up in a check to absorb the force of a roundhouse kick aimed at her mid section. Frowning, she leapt back a fair distance and stopped, reassuming a stable stance and locking onto her target. At the same time she retreated, Lee dashed at her, causing her mind to race with desperate thought.
"Lee is faster and stronger then me. Even if I do manage to block his attacks in a stalled fight, it still hurts like hell. Man he hits hard!" Ino stepped back and smacked her hands in a downward direction, knocking a front kick down and preventing it from landing. She ducked under a roundhouse kick that followed shortly after, and swept at Lee's legs, the boy leaping straight up into the air with amazing agility, and gaining incredible height. So much so, the by actually disappeared into the sun high above. When Ino attempted to scout him, she got blinded by the UV rays, and in response to this debacle, she leapt to her left as fast as she could, her opponent descending swiftly, legs spinning like a tornado.
"KONOHA DAI SENPUU!" Lee roared, his kick slamming right into the ground. The shockwave that followed as he broke the sound barrier, literally punched a five meter wide crater in the earth, causing splits to appear in the arena's surface again. Ino barrel-rolled, avoiding a majority of the attack, but was breezed by the shockwave. She rolled along the ground and got back up as quick as she could, spinning around and returning to the defensive.
"Any closer and I would have been killed," Ino thought, gritting her teeth. "I need to rethink my strategy…"
"Well, her taijutsu certainly has improved if she's lasted this long against a strong opponent like Lee," Kakashi commented, the time ticking into the first twelve minutes. The Jonin looked over at Asuma. "I'm guessing you put your team under a bit more pressure to bump up their skill, huh?"
Asuma smiled as he watched Lee continue to swiftly dash in and out from Ino's range, the girl also dancing around the battlefield to avoid a majority of Lee's more devastating attacks. The two of them literally ran circles around each other, with Ryoko standing at a safe distance as the two clashed. Loud thumps could be heard echoing through the air as fists and kicks connected, leaving the crowd stunned at the ferocity of the battle raging before them. It was only so early into the fight, and already things were starting to heat up.
Defending again, Ino blocked a downward descent kick and held, before striking at Lee under the knee with her forearms, effectively knocking his leg off of her. The boy quickly recovered and came in with a backwards roundhouse kick, the girl retreating to avoid it, at the same time she continued to think up a strategy to use against her opponent.
Leaping away to gain better distance, with Lee in pursuit of his opponent, Ino dropped to her knees and glared. In spite of having the most chakra on her team, she was steadily losing energy with the constant defense she was putting up against the incredibly energetic Lee. A bit bruised and panting from her efforts, the blonde felt that if she was going to go down, then she was going to do it in style.
Forming a series of hand seals, she then threw both hands out, linking her fingers and arching them into a loop. She used the arch she created as a crosshairs marker, and took aim at her opponent.
"Mind Body Disruption Technique," she blurted, biting her lower lip.
Just as Lee was upon her and coming in with a jab, he was suddenly thrown back by an unknown force and sent flying about a dozen meters across the arena, before he managed to skid to a stop, crossing his arms over his face. Glaring through his defense, he locked onto the girl, who was still taking aim with her hands.
"I remember…" Lee thought, shaking his head of the backlash. "She used this on that stretchy guy back in the preliminaries to knock him out." He took another stance and prepared himself. "I must remain strong. I cannot let myself get exhausted and fall victim to it!"
"He's strong!" Ino thought, furrowing her brow. "My technique focuses on disrupting the person's nervous system. But because Lee is so physically strong, it's impossible to gain control of him! I need to tire him out."
Now she was just hoping she would be able to last that long for her technique to actually work.
Lee crouched and leapt through the air, soaring towards the girl. Ino followed her opponent, formed a single hand sign and took aim again. She fired off a single burst of invisible chakra, which she knew would be able to throw off her opponent again. A split second later, she managed to hit him while he was in mid-air, causing Lee's kick to go the wrong way, surprising the boy. Ino then leapt back to her feet and, spinning a side-kick up at the boy, she struck him square in the stomach. The blow was strong enough to wind him, and sent him flying in the opposite direction. He tumbled when he crashed to the ground, rolling several times before skidding to a stop on all fours.
Bruised, Rock Lee smirked up at his opponent, and wiped his cheek with the back of his wrist.
"That was a good hit," Kakashi commented.
"She's using her head a bit more, I see," Kurenai nodded. "She was one of the top graduating students from the academy in terms of written material… and she's incredibly perceptive. It's only understandable that Ino would start throwing her head into the battle a bit more…"
"Shikamaru, Ino and Choji are all incredibly intelligent," Asuma said, smirking. "I may not have the strongest students, but I've definitely got the smartest…"
Ino, knowing she had to tire Lee out a bit more in order for her techniques to have more of an effect, reassumed a fighting stance and readied herself. Lee, still smiling in excitement, crouched down and pulled down his legwarmers. In one swift movement, he threw his leg weights off, the small, incredibly heavy bars coming down on all sides around him, punching small craters into the ground as they landed. With the extra weight gone, Lee could finally move more freely, with Ino becoming even wearier at the new development.
"O-Oh…"
"YOSH! GO LEE!" Gai exclaimed, throwing his fist in the air. The other Jonin jumped when the bowl-hair cut lookalike of Rock Lee appeared right in between their ranks, causing Asuma and Kakashi to glare at him. "Let yourself go my student!"
In the blink of an eye, Lee suddenly vanished into thin air, literally taking off faster then anyone else's eyes could follow. The audience was awed when the green Genin suddenly disappeared, and began cheering loudly, fight getting turned up a notch.
Ino spun around, hearing footsteps zipping left and right. Taking the defensive, she desperately tried to find her opponent. But all she got were brief glimpses of him, whether it was an arm, a leg, or his head, she couldn't tell. As hard as she had trained the entire month, Lee was still the faster and stronger, and had obviously upped his speed even more since his match with Eclipse. The Genin up in the balcony could see this clearly, with Sakura clenching the railings in worry.
"Oh no!"
"Ino still isn't strong enough to tackle that guy head to head!" Kiba shouted, also trying to follow the boy. But Lee was in a whole new dimension of speed. His true strength was unleashed. "This fight is done…"
"Don't count her out just yet," Gaara whispered, glancing over at Team 7 and Kiba. Naruto wasn't saying a word, and was just watching the battle closely with his arms crossed and brow furrowed. "The fight isn't over till it's over…" Kankuro had to agree with his little bro on that, with Miki also nodding her head in the shadows.
"Raw strength is great if you can combine it with technique," Naruto informed, lowering his face a bit under his hat when his team turned to look at him. "Lee is an example of both raw power and incredible skill. However, Ino prefers strategy and tact to power, and technique above endurance. Sure she doesn't seem like much of a head-on fighter, but when in a team, her skills are much to be desired…"
Just as Naruto said that, Ino was suddenly sent skyrocketing when Lee reappeared directly underneath her, and kicked straight up into her face, sending her skywards. The blow effectively winded the girl as she ascended at a high speed through the air, with Ino spitting up blood, heads turning at the sight. Lee, upon opening up one of his primary attacks, dropped down low and leapt after her, reappearing right in front of the girl, and slamming his foot down onto her abdomen when they were easily at the Third Hokage's balcony height above the ground.
Repositioning her in mid-air, so that she was head down towards the ground, Lee swung around her suspended body, and grabbed her from behind, securing her against him. The Genin braced when they saw Lee suddenly explode into movement, beginning a downward descent into what the shinobi present recognized as the Front Lotus. He spun Ino at a high velocity as they fell, the speed and high rotation easily disorientating not only Ino, but Lee as well.
"That's not good!" Tenten shouted, rising to her feet, as did a lot of the people in the audience as they watched the two Genin rocket towards the ground. "She won't survive that attack, even if it's not the complete Front Lotus! Is Lee insane?"
"He plans on landing with her to cushion the blow," Anko murmured, with the other teachers standing to her left agreeing on the observation. "Not kill her, just knock her out…"
However Ino, well aware of the fact that if she and her opponent hit the ground, and she was still in this downward descent, it was over for her; and she did not want to be seeing the unconscious world so early on in this fight. Instead, she tried a desperate, if not unorthodox, approach. Feeling the top of Lee's head pressed against the side of her neck as they fell, she knew exactly where to hit in order to throw him off. She swung her head forward and, after taking aim, swung it back, striking the very top of Lee's head as hard as she could. The blow hit the pressure point at the top of the skull, which was used to help provide equilibrium to the rest of the body.
It was the exact moment Ino's hit struck Lee; the boy was suddenly seeing flashes and blurs all around him. The effects of the blow caused him to release Ino prematurely, the girl taking full advantage of this by wrapping her legs back and holding his waist to hers tightly as they completed the high speed fall.
The rotation of the pair stopped five meters above the ground, and the direction of their descent was thrown off. The end result had both Ino and Lee hitting the ground, body first, and bouncing away from each other. The pair rolled to a stop, groaning and yelling in agony at the force of the impact, which left an indent in the rock solid ground.
Ryoko raised an eyebrow at the double impact, the crowd verbally and visibly wincing at the impact from the fall. Even the Jonin winced when they saw the end result of Ino's maneuver, Gai becoming a little bit concerned at the sight of the failed attack.
"Well… whatever works," Kakashi exclaimed.
"Zabuza's training helped quite a bit," Kurenai commented, placing her hand on her chin. "The Front Lotus is a one-hit kill technique in most cases, even its parent technique was meant to just incapacitate the victim. However, if the attack was somehow broken in mid-descent, then not only would both combatants survive the fall, but they would have also sustained incredible damage from it…"
"That was quite a smart and stupid move on both their parts," Anko stated, lowering her head. "Lee attempted to end the fight quickly, but Ino was having none of it, and instead… used her head…" The woman laughed outright when her thoughts translated into words. "Man… they'll be feeling that in the morning…"
Ryoko walked in between the two Genin and looked to make sure whether they were both alright, and still fighting fit. Ino sustained most of the damage from the fall, being on the receiving end of the attack from the beginning. When she stood up, her right arm was visibly dislodged from its shoulder, hanging at her side limply. Speaking of which, her clothes were torn up from the impact, and her skin visible scathed and bruised. Lee was also in a bad state of his own, disoriented from executing the attack, and also dizzy from the wham to the head. He gripped his skull in agony, groaning as he attempted to stand, at the same time Ino tried.
"Boy… these two are pretty high toned…" Ryoko commented, stepping back and slipping her hands into her pockets. "This should be interesting…"
"Right… where are you…" Lee groaned drunkenly, staggering around and trying to see through his impaired vision. "My most… youthful… of opponents! That…" The boy fumbled to the right, clutching the side of his head again "…was most…unyouthful of me…"
"I'm… right here…" Ino groaned back. Crying out in pain, she grabbed her dangling hand with her other still good hand and, propping it up on her knee, forcefully went through hand seals and took aim with it. "Mind Body… Disruption Technique!" she shouted. A shockwave of chakra shot out from her hands and struck Lee full on.
Now that the boy was disoriented and fatigued as a result of his unsuccessful execution of the Front Lotus technique, he was completely at the young girl's mercy. His body froze up, and began lashing about awkwardly, more awkwardly then how he was tumbling about before. Ino, gritting her teeth through the pain in her dislocated arm, used her left arm over her injured limb, and directed the boy's movements with it. "This fight is MINE!" she yelled, and forcefully turned Lee around.
Through sheer practice of her technique, Ino commanded fuzzy brows to run straight forward at full speed, head held in front and unable to stop. Seconds later, unhampered by any obstacles, the boy hit the wall head long. The blow easily knocked Lee out cold, leaving a dent of his hard head in the side of the wall, with his body slumping against it and sliding down the concrete. The crowd groaned, wincing yet again at the impact, with the Jonin and members of Team Gai staring in shock. Even the Genin up in the balcony were visibly discomforted by Ino's method of how she ended the fight.
"Ouch…" Kankuro groaned.
"That has got to hurt!" Kiba chuckled, gripping the top of his head in response to the sight and rubbing it. Akamaru, sitting happily in his coat, barked in agreement.
"After that failed Lotus technique, he's definitely not getting up after that," Kakashi calculated, the Jonin scratching heads and making the same judgment calls.
"Wow… that was quite… unexpected," Temari said, rubbing her head and looking over at Tenten and Kin, both of them sitting next to her. "Man… did you guys feel that?"
"Yeah…" Tenten murmured, shaking her head. "The entire arena shook…"
Neji frowned and sweat-dropped, wondering if Lee was ever going to come back from this defeat, or come back at all with the head slam.
The crowd cheered wildly when they saw Ino stagger back to her feet, gripping her loose arm and panting heavily from overuse of chakra and strenuous movement. It was truly an astounding fight, with even the Third Hokage and Mizukage applauding the performance. Ryoko stepped forward once again and hopefully for the last time in this fight, looking between Ino and her unconscious opponent. Chuckling, she raised her hand.
"The winner is…"
However, before she could declare the victor, a round of gasps was heard from the stand, alerting the proctor and stopping her from waving the flag too early. The Genin in the balcony blinked in shock, with Naruto smiling in delight at what everybody else was seeing. Even the Jonin and Chunin up in the stands were astonished by what they saw was happening before them.
Ino, just about to collapse in exhaustion from her battle, looked up to see what was happening, and gasped in shock when she unexpectedly saw Lee charging straight at her, blood running down his face from the split in his head.
The girl blinked in astonishment. "Impossible… he was knocked out cold!" She then suddenly noticed something odd about her newly recovered opponent in those few, brief seconds, before he struck out at her.
His eyes were closed…
Within a matter of seconds, before the blonde girl could react, Lee sent a punch straight across her face. The blow, unhindered by a block, knocked Ino flat out and off her feet. The blonde girl was sent flying through the air at the force of the blow, and after a thirty meter flight, bounced across the ground once, twice, and more then three times, before rolling to a stop at the wedge between the ground and wall dividing the arena from the stands.
It was finally, with that… the fight was over…
Ino was knocked out and lying against the wall, unconscious, and Lee was standing victorious… well… mostly…
Ryoko, with her arm still raised, shrugged her shoulders and lowered her arm, completing her announcement. "ROCK LEE!"
"Geez… almost jumped the gun there…"
The crowd, stunned at first, then erupted into a round of applause, cheering the green boy on who had managed to get up after such a mind-boggling blow. Naruto began applauding as well, the Genin standing around him still scratching their heads, wondering what the hell just happened. Anko, laughing her head off, also clapped, alongside a stunned Kakashi, Asuma and Kurenai, with Gai cheering on the sidelines.
"YES! That's my student! Way to go!" he exclaimed, punching his fist in the air.
"I didn't see that coming," Tenten clapped, looking over at Neji, who was smiling down at his teammate. "How did he get up after that?"
"Heh, I'm not sure if he's even up," the Hyuuga chuckled.
"Huh?" Tenten raised an eyebrow.
"What just happened? I thought Lee-kun was knocked out?" Hinata asked, looking up at her boyfriend. "Wasn't he?"
"He still is," Naruto chuckled, clapping his hands, impressed.
"What did you say?" Kiba shook his head, bewildered. "I'm not sure if I heard you right…"
"Lee is still knocked out!" Naruto gestured down to the arena, to see Ryoko grab Lee's hand and raise it into the air, but then do a double-take when she saw that the boy's head was slumped over and that his eyes were closed, unresponsive. "You see for years, Lee has trained so hard in the arts of taijutsu, and after working endlessly and tirelessly in making his physical body stronger, even when he's out cold, he can still fight."
"WHAT?" Everybody in the balcony, except the Kiri Ninja, shouted in shock.
"Working non-stop in martial arts for years has had an interesting side-effect; Lee's body can literally act on its own when his mind is unresponsive, and, while in the midst of battle, can fight on his behalf," Naruto said, looking over at Sakura and Kiba. "It's a thing called muscle-memory, in which the body can function on just recollection by the muscles from previous movements and engagements. It builds itself up for years, and can function without the person being conscious, especially in the case of Rock Lee, who practically trains 25 hours a day!" The blonde laughed and scratched his nose. "Kind of reminds me of the time I fell asleep on the roof one day, and woke up fighting a horde of wild animals in the Forest of Death. Man… I really needed to let myself loose…"
Regardless of being unconscious or not, Lee clearly won the match, though Ino had put up a pretty descent fight to impress even her teachers, teammates, and pretty much everybody else in the audience. She was carried off to the medical bay by the clean-up staff to quickly receive treatment, while one of them hung back to help fix up the still unconscious Lee's head, healing it, stitching it up, and bandaging it.
It was not until Lee regained consciousness several minutes later he finally felt the effects of what had happened.
"Oooh… where am I?" Lee moaned, and staggered around in a complete circle, clutching his head and unexpectedly discovering it to be bandaged up. "Why am I wrapped up? Where's my opponent?"
"You won, cannon fodder," Ryoko laughed from the sidelines, the woman smiling at the fuzzy browed kid. "I have to say though, your opponent put up one heck of a fight. How do you feel?"
"Uhh… I won uhnn… I WON?" Lee unexpectedly shouted, his expression changing from confused to one of delight. He let out a loud whoop and punched the air. "YES! I DID IT, GAI-SENSEI!"
"Well done Lee!" Gai called from the top of the stairs, giving him the thumbs up. The other Jonin standing beside him just shook their heads, while going on to discuss the quality of the fight and what the Genin have displayed so far. "I knew you could do it!"
"Man… Ino almost had it," Shikamaru groaned, propping his head up on his hands and sighing. "We will not be hearing the end of this…"
"Yeah… ma-aan," Choji mumbled through mouthfuls of chips. "But hey, here's a positive for our team… Ino has gotten much stronger now. She's probably even stronger then both of us combined…"
Shikamaru frowned. "Well… that's certainly not good…"
Round 2…
The following match had the crowd really riled up, with Kankuro's puppets having the hay-day of their carpentered lives with Kiba Inuzuka all over the arena. The actual firepower that the puppet user had stuffed into Crow and unveiled to his opponent in the opening minutes of their battle forced Ryoko to abandon her position in the middle of the field, and retreat to higher ground as explosion after explosion ripped across the grounds, forcing Kiba and Akamaru on the run. Eventually, the Genin and his dog companion brought the fight directly to within a few feet of Kankuro with their Man-Beast Clone Combo attacks, the same attacks that had Sasuke exhausted in their battle and ensured their victory.
Of course, while Kankuro chose to keep his distance in his fights, this tactic ultimately cost him when it came to close-range fighting. Everyone watched with interest as Kiba plowed through the first puppet, and attacked Kankuro viciously and relentlessly, face-to-face. The boy knew that outside of his puppets, the teen was effectively vulnerable in hand-to-hand. However, what the Inuzuka found out the hard way, was that even in pieces, the puppets could still move. As he was about to jump Kankuro from both sides with Akamaru, he was unexpectedly cut down by Crow's hidden arm blades when they were yanked out of the main body through his chakra strings and came flying out of nowhere.
The poison tipped blades hit both Kiba and Akamaru and had them tumbling across the battlefield covered in extra arms, which were eventually yanked out of them and returned to hovering around their owner, head included. Compensating for the disintegrated body, Kankuro disassembled the arms in mid-air and, piecing them together, formed an agile snake out of them, with head bobbing around on one end, and a katana on the other.
Scarred by the poisoned blades, and heart racing from the close-handed fight, Kiba only had a few minutes at best before he would pass out. But that didn't mean he wasn't going to take down Kankuro with him.
"You're a slippery bugger, aren't yah?" Kiba exclaimed, wiping his nose. "It seems kind of strange that you use puppets to fight your opponents… but who am I to argue? I'm basically a two-man team already…"
The boy tried to hold in his panting, exhaustion and dizziness overtaking him. Akamaru however, collapsed to his knees in his Kiba form, already falling to the effects already starting to eat away at his body. Kankuro grinned and held his Crow-Snake to bear, mouth opening and revealing another sword.
"Let's finish this up!" Kankuro chuckled, despite the fact that he was a bit battered up himself from getting hit twice by Kiba's Duel Piercing Fang technique. "I'll make you pay for poking fun at my choice of outfit!"
"Bring it on!" Kiba roared charging forward, Akamaru joining him. Kankuro threw his hands out, fingers dancing away and moving his puppet around. The Crow-Snake cart wheeled through the air before shooting straight for Kiba, the Inuzuka weaving in and around with his companion look-a-like, attempting to throw off his opponent.
The puppet shot through the air like a marionette dragon, coming into range and lashing out at Kiba, who barrel-rolled out of the way. Akamaru leapt at it from behind as it reared up to attack Kiba, who was crouched low beneath it. Before the dog could initiate the Piercing Fang technique, the back of the puppet's head cracked opened up and revealed one of its seldom used projectiles. Instead of kunai laced with explosive tags shooting out of its arms or hands, it shot out a gas canister that was installed in it, which struck Akamaru in the stomach and knocked him flying, gas spewing out of can and clouding the area around Kiba, Akamaru and the puppet.
The good thing for Kankuro was that he was certain they were breathing in the knock-out fumes. That bad thing was though; he wasn't sure whether Kiba and Akamaru had fallen for the trap.
The boy raised his arms up to his face; puppet still attached to his strings, and glared through the purple gas, attempting to make out his opponent in the purple mass. The crowds watched in anticipation as the cloud continued to fill the arena, with Ryoko watching closely from against the side of the wall, staying as far away from the gas as possible.
"Where are you…?" Kankuro growled, eyes whipping left and right.
Suddenly, the gas wall ten meters in front of him exploded outwards as Kiba came charging at him on all fours, his speed covering the distance between the two of them in seconds. However, Kankuro reacted at the same time Kiba reappeared, slapping his hands together and recalling his puppet. The Crow-Snake swiftly slithered out of the cloud of gas and struck out at Kiba from behind. With expert finger work, Kankuro had the Crow puppet lunge at the boy and swiftly wrap around his legs, effectively tripping him up and throwing Kiba flat out onto the ground. The Inuzuka teen landed face first with a loud thud, an 'oof' escaping his lips on impact.
Kankuro, relieved, crouched down and grinned at the boy lying a meter from him. "So… ready to apologize for your smart-ass comments about me, eh?"
Kiba glared up at him. "Bark!"
Kankuro blinked in shock. "What?"
All of a sudden, the real Kiba came flying out of the gas and lunging at Kankuro, the boy looking up in surprise. Grinning, the Inuzuka threw his arms around and began his high-velocity rotation, his body turning into the end-point of a raging tornado, which barreled straight towards the puppet user.
"PIERCING FANG!" Kiba roared.
Kankuro couldn't react in time, and was struck head-long by the attacking Genin, and driven straight into the arena wall ten meters behind him. The simultaneous impacts of Kankuro then Kiba sent an explosion of debris and dust everywhere, the Genin up in the waiting area looking down in surprise.
Temari gasped and rose from her seat in the stands, looking down towards the arena with concern, as did Gaara on the balcony, who walked closer to the railings and looked over to better see the results of the fight. Naruto raised an eyebrow, whereas Sakura and Hinata held their breaths, hoping that the two were alright.
When the dust and gas cloud finally cleared, it was revealed that Kankuro had been drilled deep into an impact crater in the side of the wall, the front of his clothes torn up and stained from the debris. Kiba stood in front of him, panting heavily and looking down at the unconscious boy, whose hold over the puppet binding the Kiba-Akamaru now released. Akamaru changed back to normal in a puff of smoke and, after limping towards his master, collapsed at his feet, whimpering.
Kiba, trying to control his breathing, also collapsed to his knees, grinning and petting Akamaru on the head.
"Good boy…"
"Arf…" was Akamaru's quiet reply.
The crowd slowly moved from a state of awe, to a state of celebration and delight. Applause spread throughout the audience, and within seconds, the entire arena rose up with cheering, whistles, and shouts of joy. The people were clearly entertained, and so were the Jonin.
"He's certainly come far, your student," Asuma glanced over at Kakashi, grinning. "You must be proud…"
"I sure am," Kakashi, eye smiling in his characteristic way, looked back over at Asuma in kind. "He did well…"
"He knew Kankuro wouldn't be able to see him through the gas, and used that to his advantage," Kurenai smiled. "The boy cleverly had Akamaru divert his opponent's attention to him, while he attacked from a blind-spot. Nice move…"
Sasuke, also in the audience next to his quiet friend and comrade Shino, folded his arms and smirked. "The under-dog has become top-dog now…eh?" the Uchiha commented. The bug-user glanced over at his teammate, sunglasses flashing.
"You don't care?"
The Uchiha shook his head and leant back, putting his hands behind his head.
"Nope," Sasuke exclaimed in a monotone voice. "Everything has its time. That's what my mom always told me…"
Shino, not wanting to pry too much into Sasuke's complicated life, shrugged back, and turned towards the arena.
"Oh well," Temari sighed and sat back down, smiling a bit. "He did his best…"
"At least your brother wasn't up against Naruto," Tenten chuckled looking over at the golden haired girl, while ignoring the cheering from Choji a couple seats across to her right. "That would have been embarrassing…"
"Oh yeah… definitely…" Temari smiled. However, she was inwardly worried about how Naruto would do when it came to his fight, and looked down towards where he stood alongside her younger brother. From where she sat with Tenten and Kin, she could see the participants clear as day. "I hope you do alright… Naruto…"
Ryoko, waving away some of the gas from the commotion, walked forward to where Kiba knelt, with Kankuro still stuck in the wall, slumped over. Checking both boys, she smirked and turned towards the audience, raising her hand.
"The winner, Kiba Inuzuka!" she declared, earning a series of cheers from the audience.
As Kankuro was helped out by a medical team, and Kiba was given an antidote to the paralysis poison along with his companion, up in the balcony, Sakura was flexing her arms and getting ready for her fight. Stretching, she smiled at Naruto as he turned towards her, then to Hinata, and then, grinned over at Gaara.
The red haired boy turned to her in response. With the anticipation of the next fight growing, both combatants smirked at each other.
TO BE CONTINUED…
Omake - Episode 2 - The Adventure's of Mia
"The sun is bright and shiny, the sky is lovely and blue..." Mia sang as she danced along the road, smiling happily and chewing on a reed. She was somewhere in Konoha, around one of the many boulevards of restaurants and food stores. Swishing her red hair about her and her ringed eyes looking from left to right, the young Sage happily skipped her day away. "The road is wide and dusty... well, this sounds like a good time to go around and have some fun!"
Looking left and right, the young woman suddenly spotted a familiar face walking towards her along the road, face engrossed in a bok and one hand in his pocket. Blinking, the girl hummed her way over to the silver haired Jonin and popped up in front of him, with Kakashi looking up and over the top of his book.
"Hello!"
"Oh, hello Mia," Kakashi cleared his throat, eye-smiling. "How are you?"
"I'm happy!" The girl giggled and twirled on the spot, and moved around to the man's side, peeking over his shoulder. "Watcha' reading?"
"Oh uhh... " Kakashi blushed a bit and cleared his throat, angling the book away so that she could see the first couple of pages. "Well it's uhh... it's umm... a story about... uhh... a man... and a woman... umm... falling in love! Yes! That's right!" The Jonin chuckled and rubbed the back of his head. "Yes! Lots of women falling in love!"
"Oooooohh...!" Mia then smiled, swiftly snatching the book from his hand and opening it to the first page. "Let me see!"
"Hang on, wait!" Kakashi shouted. Before he could make a grab for it, Mia flicked through the pages from start to finish in just one second and looked at the back of the book. Her face scrunched up in thought and she held the book back up to Kakashi.
"There's a lot of sex in here!" Mia said loudly, attracting a lot of unwanted attention from passerbyers. Kakashi, chuckling nervously, grabbed the book and pocketed it, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly.
"Uhh... yes. About that..."
"Are you good at having sex?" Mia asked curiously, giving him a rather cute expression when she said that.
"No... uhh... what! NO! I mean! Yes!"
"Really?" Mia asked, levitating off the ground a few feet and hovering around in front of him from left to right, causing the man to back up a little. "Can you show me? Huh? Show me! Show me! Show me! Show me!"
"Please, Mia," Kakashi hissed, grabbing the girl by the shoulders. He paused for a moment when he noticed she was floating. "Wow... how do you do that...? Floating...hang on! Wait! Listen! You can't do... you know... that in public!" The man looked around awkwardly, seeing the strange stares he was getting from people.
"Awww... why not?" Mia asked, flipping over and hovering higher up so her eyes are level. "It sounded fun in the book..."
"It's inappropriate," Kakashi replied, releasing the girl's shoulders. "It's something... you do in private..."
"But those girls in the book did it in the..."
"Shhhhhh!" Kakashi hushed her up, glancing around. "Spoilers..."
"Oh!" Mia nodded in understanding, a smile spreading across her lips. "But can you show me?"
"Go find umm... uhh... lets see... Naruto! Yes! Go find Naruto!" Kakashi turned her around in mid-air and gently pushed her down the road. "I'm sure he will be glad to show you."
"OKAY!" Mia exclaimed, beginning to walk upsidedown through the air down the road. "Master! Master! Master!" She shouted as she disappeared down the streets. Kakashi sighed and shook his head, rubbing his temples.
"Why me? It's always me!"