Along Came a Symbiote
Author's Note: I am terribly sorry for how long it took me to get this chapter out. I had gotten fired from my last job and then I had to hunt for a job, and then I finally got another job, but work has been keeping me working nearly 10 hour days, and I hate my current job. Long story short, life has been a pain. I'm going to try and get a new job, one that doesn't leave me depressed at the end of the day. Also I'm going to try and update this story more.
Once again sorry for the wait and I hope you enjoy
Chapter 6:Us, you, and this arena
The sun, damn did she hate it during a morning, or evening as far as she knew, like this. Her head throbbed, a noise too loud might as well have been nails across a chalk board and she felt a pressure on her stomach that didn't usually exist.
After five more minutes of unsuccessful attempts to fall asleep again, Anko finally cracked open one of her eyes and saw a head full of blonde hair lying across her stomach. A frown appeared on her face when she couldn't recall the specific details of last night. She tried to gain a closer look at his face, but the wild hair and the fact that he was facing away blocked her view. Moving wasn't an option as she quite honestly didn't want to move at the moment, and doing so regardless would most likely alert her intruder/guest.
So instead she simply resigned herself to studying him and her surroundings. The blonde teen was sprawled out on his back on top of her bed with limbs hanging over the bed, much like herself, and used her stomach as a pillow. Aside from his black long sleeved shirt and matching boxers, he was half naked. A closer look at her self revealed that she wasn't in any better condition as she was only dressed in her mesh top and skirt, her belt half undone.
'If we were planning on doing something, we passed out way before we could get to the good stuff.'
Now that she was done accessing his and her situation, she turned her attention to the rest of her room. Her dark green walls seemed to help dull the headache she had at the moment, while looking at her floor only aggravated it with how the light seemed to brighten from the cream color. Pieces of clothes littered the ground among various other things such as scrolls and ninja items. It wasn't exactly a mess, though it definitely needed some cleaning done. She attributed the knocked over lamp next to her drawer as a casualty from making her way to the bed last night.
Her guest, as she accepted him as, finally moved his head so that it was facing the valley of her breast and Anko got a better look at him. Some of his hair still shadowed his face, but that was quickly solved with a slip of her fingers.
Anko could admit to feeling slightly better knowing that Naruto was the one currently sleeping on her bed and not some stranger she got too drunk to scare away. Seeing his face reminded her of the last few weeks, and how she grew to like the blonde Genin and his "I don't give a damn attitude".
Having been given the opportunity to train and observe Naruto helped Anko understand what the Hokage saw in him. While an Uchiha could copy a jutsu with a mere glance of their Sharingan, that was all they could do, just copy it. Naruto on the other hand was different. He was a fast learner that was for sure. It had only taken him a little over a week to learn and perform what she taught him flawlessly. But he didn't stop there. Anko learned exactly what Sarutobi meant when he said that Naruto didn't really need a sensei. After learning the two jutsu he was taught, he continued experimenting with the jutsu and learning to use them in various ways Anko had never thought of.
Another thing Anko found out was that Naruto didn't merely spend his time learning new jutsu like many would as he made sure to continue training himself physically as well, though looking at his body made that obvious. Deciding to observe his physical training brought Anko to Naruto's house and gave her further insight into who he was.
Surprisingly Naruto was rather neat and kept his house clean for the most part. Another thing she learned was that he made due with what he had. Instead of sleeping in his bedroom, he slept on his couch. The reason for this was so he could turn his bedroom into a workout room, complete with a bench press among other weight lifting tools. Seeing the various weights made it easy to see how Naruto had gained the muscles that were uncommon on a teen his age.
She hadn't truly expected it but at the end of each training day Naruto kept his word. A plate full of dango, a pleasing shoulder and back massage, and to top it all off, good company were her payments at the end of each day.
Naruto, he was different from most people. It was rare to find someone like herself that didn't care about what most people thought. It's not like she was lonely. Anko had several people she could call her friends, but most of them were either co-workers or women her age and had their own stress to deal with. Naruto was a breathe of fresh air, just someone she could relax with without trading stories of dislike or boredom.
A groan from Naruto woke Anko from her thoughts and hinted to her that he was waking up as well. She fixated him with a stare as she waited with curious mischief, pondering what his exact reaction would be.
Throbbing, it was the first thing he felt, heard, and couldn't get out of his mind as he woke up. The sun caused his eye lids to scrunch as the rays of light were highly uncomfortable on his face. Never the less, he opened his eyes to begin the process of waking.
Naruto hadn't questioned the odd sensation of his pillow or the fact that his couch felt far too comfortable or spacious, at least not until he came face to face with the thinly veiled bust that belonged to Anko. He was smart enough to not focus too long on the nicely shaped body as the facts that he was not in his house, not on his couch, and sleeping on top of someone became apparent. His eyes slowly made their way slowly towards Anko's face.
The feral grin on Anko's face was all the warning Naruto needed and he quickly leapt to his feet just in time to escape Anko's reach. The sudden movement was a mistake on both sides as they both clutched their heads and groaned as the hangover hit them harder than before. Naruto staggered while attempting to find the nearest bathroom with Anko heading towards the kitchen. His first task once he closed the door was to rummage through Anko's medicine cabinet. Looking over and reading the ingredients of any over the counter medicine he could find. The throbbing of his head made it hard to concentrate, and the symbiote's angry chastising of how Naruto poisoned them didn't make things any better.
After finding that none of the medicines alone would solve his current problem, Naruto grabbed a small white bottle of aspirin and swallowed two of the white pills. It wouldn't cure his headache, but it would be a good start. While he was waiting on the effects to kick in, Naruto thought about his current predicament. Nothing had happened between him and Anko. That was obvious despite his current dress attire.
Oddly enough it was the fact that he was wearing little clothes that helped convince him that nothing happened. Normally he slept naked and the fact that he wore anything last night hinted that he had enough sense to keep at least some of his clothes on. Anko not killing him in his sleep was another nice assurance.
Making his way back to the door, he allowed a small sliver of his symbiote to crawl through the crack of the door and check on where Anko was. Finding that she was not in her bed room, Naruto opened the door and gave a quick command for his suit to add on a pair of pants for him.
Afterwards he made his way to the kitchen, stopping only to raid the fridge in order to mix various ingredients to finish his 'cure'. He gave his mystery brew a final stir before heading towards the living room and finding Anko laying across her couch while watching a program on her TV. If she was curious about where he found his pants she didn't show it.
Instead she gave the red liquid Naruto was drinking a questioning look. "What the hell is that?" she asked bluntly.
Naruto took another gulp before answering. "Secret hangover cure." his answer being roughly sarcastic.
Anko simply stared at the cup in Naruto's hand for several minutes before holding her hand out. Noticing the out stretched limb, Naruto decided to take one last swig before handing the remains over.
Looking into the half filled cup, Anko gave a cautionary sniff before jerking back like an animal smelling something possibly dangerous.
"What's it made of?" she asked.
Naruto's face split into a grin, already feeling the hangover slowly disappear.
"It wouldn't be a secret if we told you." he stated with more glee than Anko liked.
Pinching her nose, Anko attempted to drink the remaining red liquid in one gulp. The digits closing her nostrils did nothing to prevent the burning sensation that traveled down her throat. If it wasn't for the fact that her headache was dulling, Anko would swear she was being pranked into drinking a tabasco filled drink.
Naruto chuckled as he watched Anko's face turn red, while she attempted to keep tears from spilling from her eyes. With his hangover slowly leaving him, his memories of the previous night began to return to him, though it held its gaps.
PUT LINE HERE
The bar was filled with several voices, each talking about their own topics and news. Random chatter such as this was not uncommon in such a place, especially one that's common goal was to serve liquor of various flavors and potencies. But what was uncommon was the sight that many had focused their eyes on at the front of the bar. Centered in the center of the bar stools was Anko and Naruto, both laughing and drunk. Seeing Anko around wasn't surprising. And seeing Naruto, with his Leaf headband on wasn't surprising either. Being a licensed ninja allowed anyone to be considered an adult, and Naruto wasn't the first Genin to ever have a drink at a young age and wouldn't be the last. What did surprise many, was that Anko had walked in with Naruto and ever since sat, talked, and even drank with him.
Most times that Anko came to have a drink, she did it alone, and any guy that had decided to "attempt" to flirt with her or openly stared at her figure too perversely, found that their good night was cut short. Yet here was a boy half their age, "admiring" her body for all it was worth and openly making flirtatious comments about her. Some believed the only reason Naruto had not been beaten within an inch of his life was the fact that he was still only a teen. Others had believed that Anko had simply gotten too drunk to care, though this theory was quickly thrown away when a, what he must have thought of himself at the time, stud decided to try and steal Anko from Naruto.
Many could still remember Naruto's laughter while Anko began to tear into the so called "stud" verbally and forced the man out of the bar with a whole slew of threats and promises.
"You've had enough son." The bar keeper stated, as he proceeded to try and remove the bottle of whisky from in front of Naruto.
Both Naruto's and Anko's hand shot forward and grabbed a part of the half full bottle.
"Nowz Nowz, this is my studentz. AND I wantsss to celibratesss hiss first time innnss a bar all prooperrs." Anko said.
Naruto nodded sloppily while agreeing with Anko. "Yeeaaahh. We stillss have a b-b-b- BAC, wez needdss an ABC."
The bartender gave a confused look at Naruto. "An ABC?"
Once again Naruto sloppily nodded his head. "An Alcoholss Blood Contentss."
Anko began laughing at Naruto's stupid joke and the waiter let out a sigh when he saw that he wouldn't be prying the bottle from their hands BEFORE they succumbed to alcohol poisoning.
"Have it your way."
"GLADLY!" both exclaimed.
The two refilled their glasses before continuing their social drinking.
"Anko….. youz sure we should be drinkings this muchs a few dayz before the Chunin e-e-examz." Naruto asked.
Anko chuckled before taking another sip of her drink. "Comesss on, y-you've already llleeaarrrneedd the thinnnggs youz waaannted to learn fromz me. W-Whatss a day or twos recoveringz from a hangover." she said before breaking out into a laugh.
The laugh seemed infectious, at least for Naruto as he began laughing with her. The rest of their night continued going along similar as time went by before they both left to retire for the night.
"Don't choke." Naruto said
Anko's coughs slowly died down as the burning sensation slowly dulled. A glare was sent towards Naruto, not that he minded.
"…" Anko had opened her mouth to speak, but a hoarse wheeze was all she could manage.
Getting up, she returned to the kitchen only to come out with a glass of water. She downed half of the glass before making her second attempt at speech.
"Hah, so tell me. What all do you remember about last night?" she asked.
"Bits and pieces. We went to a bar, talked, drank, and returned here." Naruto said. "Nothing happened between us." he decided to add.
Anko let out an amused laugh. "I figured as much. Still got my panties on." she whispered the last part, though Naruto's ear's picked up on it.
"You never told me what your strategies are for your opponents." Anko suddenly brought up.
Naruto simply gave Anko a curious look while she returned the look.
"Well don't you think as your sensei, no matter how temporary, you should tell me your battle plan?"
After a moments thought Naruto began listing off the different strategies he had planned out. "Hinata will be the easiest. We get the feeling she doesn't want to fight us, though if she does decide to fight us, we'll handle her like we did Neji…. we guess we shouldn't be as rough. Shikamaru will be trouble, that is if he is taught the more advanced techniques of his family. Other wise he'll just be an annoyance, we best assume he has been taught. Even so…. so long as we keep our distance, he won't be able get us-"
"You shouldn't underestimate him. He may be lazy but he's far smarter than anyone your age."
Naruto nodded in understanding. "That might be true, but his stamina sucks. If I was fighting all three of the InoShikaCho, then we'd be worried. But alone, he'll have to find a way to capture us himself, something we intend to only allow after we've exhausted him."
Anko nodded her head. "Alright how about the others then, such as your teammate Sasuke?"
Naruto began laughing. "We highly doubt we'll have to fight Sasuke."
"What makes you think that he'll lose his match?" Anko asked, a puzzled look crossing her face.
"Sasuke's first opponent is Gaara. He's a fellow jinchuuriki." Naruto partially lied. "At most Kakashi could have taught Sasuke how to survive his fight. I doubt Sasuke could have been taught enough to actually beat Gaara with only a month of training."
She had to agree with him. A Genin, no matter how talented, couldn't hope to actually beat a host of one of the tailed beasts with only a months worth of training.
"Well how do you plan to beat Gaara then?"
The question was followed with silence as Naruto's face scrunched in thought.
"We doubt that he has shown his full power, but from what has been seen it revolves around his sand. So far the only plan we have been able to come up with is to force him to chase us with his sand. Then after it's been spread out far enough we'll close in and attempt to fight him… hopefully his sand will be too thin to block our attacks."
Anko's face mirrored Naruto's. "That doesn't sound like much of a plan." she stated.
Naruto shook his head. "We know, unfortunately if we can't thin out his sand, no attack whether close or long range will be able to harm him."
She saw the sense in that but. "But still, you're relying on a theory. Then again it's not like you can simply look up his information and find a weak spot. Ok well let's move onto your other opponents."
Naruto continued explaining the rest of his strategies to Anko. Afterwards he headed home in order to truly rest for the remaining two days.
Two days Later
Anko couldn't help but notice how quiet the stadium seemed despite how packed the rows upon rows of seats were. Yeah the final part of the Chunin exams had yet to start, but one would think the several hundred people talking would seem loud.
"I didn't think you would be here Anko." asked a feminine voice.
Anko looked to her side to see Kurenai and Kiba approaching the empty seats next to her. Kiba still had bandages wrapped around various places on his body; luckily his hood protected his head and hair from the majority of Sasuke's fire jutsu.
Anko smiled as Kurenai and her student sat down. "I really didn't plan on attending, but my student asked me to baby sit his friend."
"I don't need you to babysit me!" Haku growled out from the seat behind her.
Kurenai ignored the feminine boy in favor of feeding her curiosity. "Your student? I didn't know you had one."
Anko chuckled. "Well I didn't before last month, but three weeks ago he approached me and asked for my … tutelage."
"Hmmm, he." Kurenai stated before she began openly ticking off the known male competitors and the reason they wouldn't go after Anko in order to learn.
"Can't be Sasuke or Naruto, they have Kakashi to teach them."
After this was said Anko's smile grew mischievous and a small bit of her tongue stuck out between her teeth. This wasn't missed by Kurenai and she quickly moved on it.
"Which one?"
Anko puffed out her chest, much to Kiba's delight. "It was Naruto, said I had something that Kakashi couldn't offer him."
Kurenai's face scrunched up in confusion. "What do you have that Kakashi, the copy nin doesn't?"
"Ah ah. I can't go and tell the enemy what my student has up his sleeves." Anko said
"The enemy?" Kurenai asked confused.
"Yeah, you have two students in this tournament. The other here having an unsuccessful talk with pretty boy here."
Having heard this, Kiba abandoned his one sided conversation. "So where is Naruto? I don't see him down there yet."
Anko simply shrugged her shoulders.
Naruto's apartment
Naruto looked into the full body mirror, his clothes constantly shifting forms.
'Need something that's convenient for our fighting style yet appease the judges in what they believe a ninja should look like.'
His mimic Anbu clothing was instantly replaced by a black mimic Chunin outfit.
'No, don't want to appear cocky. Let's just start off with the first layer.'
The symbiote morphed into a skin tight body suit with a mask covering his head as well.
'Alright we want to be noticeable but not too flashy. Possible clients will want a face.'
The mask withdrew to reveal his tanned face, blonde spiky hair, and blue eyes.
'Add some sandals, some trousers… not leather, and maybe a loose turtle neck.'
The black suit shifted to his desired thoughts. He took one last look at his image before adding a few more changes.
'Make the sleeves wider and shrink the torso so that it's almost as skintight as the first layer. And for the final touch, our own little insignia'
The spider emblem that had been on his previous choice of attire bled to life among his new shirt.
"Perfect! And now for a touch of professionalism." he said before making his way towards his dresser, picking up his Leaf headband and tying it to his forehead.
The clock on his wall caught his attention, and a slight bit of panic coursed through him.
"Shit! Only five minutes till the Chunin exams start."
Naruto didn't bother with the door and simply jumped out his living room window.
Reaching the stadium had only taken him roughly three to four minutes. Though this had been due to swinging, leaping, and what many called "flying" across the village. Now Naruto stood outside of the arena contemplating on whether to make a flashy entrance or simply walk in. His want to impress a few clients eventually veered him towards being flashy and he began running next to the side wall of the stadium.
When he reached a fast enough pace, he shot a long thread of his symbiote to the top of the wall, allowing his momentum to swing him forward. Seeing he would need a little more push for his swing to be successful, he swung his feet forward, giving him the needed inertia. Having swung full circle, Naruto found himself upside down and let go just as his swing brought him over the wall and towards the center of the arena. Instead of just allowing his body to fly towards the hard earth, Naruto curled his arms and legs to his chest before letting his body to spin with the motion. Just as he reached the ground his feet touched down and he slid several feet before coming to a stop in front of the other participants.
A chorus of claps came from several impressed spectators with a few murmurs accompanying them.
Naruto looked towards the other contestants to see their reactions. Hinata looked her usual self, blushing, and surprisingly she was one of people who clapped. Gaara seemed uninterested in his acrobatic landing with his siblings giving mixed responses. Kankuro seemed confused and clearly didn't recognize Naruto. And Temari was slightly impressed with a bit of shock added in. Shikamaru didn't seem to care and Shino was his usual stoic self, though Naruto had received the usual greeting nod. Finally Naruto looked towards his first opponent and found an excited Lee.
Naruto chuckled at Lee's behavior. Most would be nervous from Naruto's display and the fact that he was their first opponent. Then again Naruto knew that Lee was no push over in taijutsu, something both boys specialized in.
On the stands
"Looks like he has the right idea." Anko murmured.
Kurenai nodded her head in agreement while a puzzled Kiba simply stared at Naruto before voicing his confusion.
"Right idea? What are you talking about?"
Anko stayed silent for a few seconds as she observed Naruto. "The final part of the Chunin exams is held with several local and foreign nobles, which in short means clients for us. Naruto's new wardrobe is closer to the idea of what most expect ninja to look like, with little alterations here and there. The small things such as the large spider emblem on his shirt and his bright blonde hair will make it easier for the nobles to notice and recognize him more while his dark and light weight clothing help the examiners take him more serious. Add in his special entrance and now he has everyone's attention."
Kiba thought over everything he had been told. He understood much of what was said, but there were small pieces that didn't seem to make sense.
"So what's so important about gaining the nobles attention?" he asked curiously.
Kurenai decided to take over seeing as she was Kiba's sensei, it only made sense that she teach him.
"By gaining the noble's attention Naruto has gained several possible clients. Even if he doesn't make Chunin, he will have several people wanting him for missions-"
"Which will give him several chances to be promoted." Anko interjected.
Before Kiba could ask another question, Kurenai decided to continue on. "The more missions you perform, the more mission reports go in your file. If the Kage of the village reviews your records and feels that you are ready to become a Chunin, then there is the possibility that you may be given an alternative Chunin test."
Kiba seemed to get excited at the prospect of becoming a Chunin soon after the exams and Kurenai decided it was best to better explain things.
"This alternative test is rare though. It usually requires several high ranking missions and compliments from clients or higher ranked fellow nins before a Kage will decide to review your files. In short, you would have to be doing exceptionally better than most in your rank, gain the satisfaction of various clients, and gain the respect of your colleagues. Naruto has already impressed Asuma, who has written it down in his mission report which was also copied as a foot note into Naruto's files."
Kiba gave a whistle out of amazement. "Damn, I didn't know mission reports were so important."
"You should always give full detail when writing a mission report." Kurenai stated. "A report can show if you've fought infamous foreign nins, how you handled various situations, among many other things."
Anko laughed. "Just don't go lying on your report. It isn't hard for the Hokage to discover if you're lying. One way or another, he. Will. Find. Out. And when that happens you better expect a lost in rank at the very least."
Kurenai decided to only confirm this statement with a nod as she turned her attention to the arena instead as the final part of the exams began.
A new examiner acted as the referee for the Chunin exams in place of Hayate. Who this new person was and why the sick Tokubetsu Jonin wasn't present didn't matter to Naruto, as he simply stared at Lee with a feral and challenging grin while Lee returned it with fierce determination.
"My name is Genma Shiranui and I will be the referee for this portion of the Chunin exams. Now will everyone except Rock Lee and Naruto Uzumaki leave the arena floor?"
With that said the other participants made their way towards their observation level and waited for the match to begin. Both Lee and Naruto continued to stare each other down and made no other movements other than the slight shift into a battle stance.
Genma looked back and forth between the two eager teens. "Looks like you two are ready to go. The rules are the same as last time. Both of you will fight until one of you can no longer fight or you give up. Killing is allowed but if I've already determined the winner and you kill your opponent regardless then you'll be disqualified. Do you understand?"
Naruto and Lee simply gave a nod.
"Good. Alright fight!" Genma shouted.
Lee dashed toward Naruto the instant Genma declared the start of the match. This didn't bother Naruto as he was just as impatient for the match to begin. A flying spin kick aimed for the head was blocked by both of the blonde Genin's arms. This had left Naruto open on his other side, something Lee decided to take advantage of with a quick right straight.
Lee's attacks were successful but not without him receiving a similar punch from Naruto.
The two stumbled back, or in Naruto's case, took a step back before fixing each other with a predatory glare. It was Naruto that dashed towards Lee this time, though not as fast and threw a quick series of jabs and hooks. The jabs had been easy to block and parry, unfortunately for Lee the hooks had either broken his guard or unbalanced him with their sheer strength.
Ducking under an over extended hook, Lee grabbed the arm and threw Naruto over his shoulder. Said blonde simply righted himself midair before leaping back at Lee. The two once again engaged in hand to hand combat, except this time Lee was prepared for Naruto's fast and powerful strikes.
Seeing that he wasn't making any progress with his fist alone, Naruto decided to switch tactics and used an overpowered kick to Lee's side in order to force some distance between himself and his opponent. The kick worked as planned and Naruto thrust his left fist forward. A thin tendril of his symbiote shot forward and connected with Lee's shoulder and he pulled back hoping to set Lee off balance.
But just has he yanked his fist back, Lee used his own in order to form his hand into a chopping form and quickly severed the link between him and Naruto.
"Seems you learned from your teammates fight." Naruto stated
Lee reaffixed his stance before responding. Making sure that his left arm was held behind his back while his right was held in front of him, the back of his hand facing Naruto with his finger curled as if he was about to perform a come forward motion.
"There was much that I learned from that fight." a moment of silence filled the air before Lee burst from his spot. "Such as the fact that you're holding back!"
Lee spun his entire body forward, leading with his right foot as the rest of his body followed the motion while airborne. Naruto didn't waste anytime throwing his arm to his side and tensing his entire body, bracing himself for the blow.
"Duck!" shouted Kiba as he watched the fight go on with his whole attention focused solely on the fight. Haku sat next to him, giving the match the same kind of attention. A thunderous boom filled the air as Lee's kick connected with Naruto's arm.
"Leaf whirl-"
Lee's declaration was halted by his own shock as his kick only caused Naruto to lean slightly to the side. With his body still in mid flight, there was nothing Lee could do as Naruto's right fist smashed across the side of his face.
"Why didn't he duck?" Kiba asked, clearly confused.
"Because it was unnecessary." Was Haku's response.
Everyone's attention turned to the previously silent boy. While Kurenai and Anko understood that Naruto made the correct choice, they were also curious about Haku's thoughts on the matter.
"I don't know enough about all the fighters here, but from what I've seen there are key difference between Naruto and Lee."
Haku allowed the thought to set in before continuing on.
"Lee is faster than Naruto, and possibly a bit stronger in strength. But Naruto's reflexes along with his heavier body gives him the advantage in close range fighting."
"How does Naruto having a heavy body give him an edge and why would it even matter in a fight between shinobi?"Kiba asked.
Haku took a moment to think, trying to find the best way to explain exactly what he meant.
"The answers in reverse, when has this ever been a fight between two shinobi. So far they have simply been brawling. As far as Naruto's weight, simply put. It makes it harder for Lee's attacks to have an effect."
Understanding dawned on Kiba's face. "I see, so that's why he didn't dodge Lee's kick. Cause he could withstand it…. right?"
A curt nod was Haku's reply.
"There are other things to consider as well." Kurenai added. "Such as the fact that Naruto's body was planted firm on the ground while Lee wasn't."
Kiba turned his attention towards his sensei, waiting for her to continue. It soon became apparent that she had no plans to continue and Kiba switched his attention back towards the fight.
It seemed that what Haku had said earlier was true. Naruto stood relaxed, a few scuff marks on his face but otherwise he was ok. It was Lee who seemed to have taken a beating. Naruto's mouth began moving but thanks to the distance between them, Kiba and several others could not make out what was being said.
Anko on the other hand stood up and growled. During her ninja carrier she had been taught to read lips and understood exactly what Naruto was saying.
'We're tired of this Lee. We know full well that you're still wearing your weights. Take them off now and fight us seriously. If you don't we'll continue to fight you with the minimal effort needed to beat you.'
Lee's look went from determined to shock within a second.
"I told him not to instigate Lee into removing his weights! What is he thinking?" Anko growled out.
A look towards the judges showed them scribbling down on their boards, obviously having read Naruto's lips as well and marking him down.
Lee suddenly turned his attention towards the stands and gave a questioning look. Might Guy appeared to be in a thinking pose next to his other students before returning Lee's look with a smile and gave a thumbs up.
Naruto smiled as he observed the entire thing and waited as Lee began removing the weights. The ground trembled as the weights were dropped and Lee returned to his battle stance once more.
Kiba could only wonder how the few weights Lee removed would help him. He opened his mouth to voice his question but was unable to say anything before Lee suddenly vanished, only to reappear in front of Naruto connect a solid kick to his face.
Unlike before where Naruto would have simply taken a few steps back, he stumbled before righting himself into a fighting stance. But once again Lee disappeared and struck from Naruto's blind spot.
"The hell!" Kiba shouted while he watched the fight completely turn in Lee's favor.
Naruto threw a few punches and kicks, only to hit air and shortly afterwards, sent flying by another of Lee's attacks.
When Anko had told him about the intense training Guy had given Lee and the weights used in said training, Naruto had gotten excited. He knew he shouldn't have talked Lee into removing the weights but the idea of actually fighting someone his age that could actually fight on equal grounds with him was too much to pass.
Naruto never believed he could lose against Lee, even now as the green clad Genin was pummeling into him; he believed there was a way to beat Lee. Once more his fighting instincts kicked in and he leapt back in time to barely dodge Lee and placed his back against the arena wall.
He placed his arms in a tight guard in front of him and began watching out for the dust that was kicked up every time Lee leapt from one spot to the next. The dust was his only clue of where Lee was and he planned to use it to his advantage. Placing his back towards the wall was a way to ensure that Lee couldn't attack him from behind.
Suddenly all traces of dust kicking up faded and Naruto narrowed his eyes as Lee had yet to appear. It was only thanks to the sound of air being pierced above him that Naruto tilted his body to the side fast enough as to only receive a grazing blow from Lee's downward kick and leapt away.
The ground crumbled beneath Lee as his foot collided with it before disappearing.
Now being forced away from the wall, Naruto was once more being attacked from all sides. Using chakra to stick him to the ground only helped him from being knocked to the ground while his body rocked from side to as the blows landed.
A punch slipped through his guard and his head spun to the side, blooding flying from his lips.
'Gotta do something soon. Our body can only take so much.'
Despite the pain that was steadily increasing in his body, Naruto focused on all the details he and his symbiote could observe. One thing he caught onto was the fact that Lee wasn't aiming for any of his vital organs or one area in general, most likely due to the fact that while Lee was moving at a speed that made him nearly invisible, his own vision was impaired. If Naruto had to guess, he assumed he appeared as an oddly shaped blur to Lee.
Another thing Naruto noticed was that Lee was visible a split second during his attack. Something he could have taken advantage of if he didn't have to recover from Lee's attacks after they landed.
But the most important thing Naruto noticed was that Lee was making a fatal mistake. He was following a pattern of attack, which made him predictable. He knew not if the focus needed to move at such speeds made Lee careless in other areas, but he couldn't think of any other reasons. Naruto realized he would have one chance. Just one chance to turn the entire match around, for if he missed this one opportunity then he risked Lee discovery his own mistake or worst passed out from the abuse his body was taking.
He waited. More attacks came and left new bruise, but he waited. Waited to make sure that he was sure about the pattern and went so far as to close his eyes so other details would not mislead him.
Suddenly Naruto's eyes snapped open and he made his move.
It had happened so fast that most of the audience couldn't honestly tell what happened. One moment Naruto was being beaten within an inch of his life then... they didn't know what to think.
Naruto suddenly ducked and Lee appeared behind him, his fist extended forward and over Naruto with his body still in mid flight. Then without warning Naruto's body spun in a one hundred and eighty degrees and what sounded like an implosion filled the arena. The only hint of what had created that noise was Naruto's fist buried into Lee's ribs and the pained expression on said Genin's face.
After what seemed like minutes, Lee began to back away with trembling steps until he turned around and collapsed onto his hands and knees, all the while carrying the same pained expression as if he were silently screaming.
Anko smiled when she saw Naruto perform two sets of hand seals. "It's about time this ended." she merely stated much to the confusion of the others around her.
Instead of pestering Anko for an answer, they turned back towards the arena and saw both Naruto and Lee standing. Neither looked as if they should have been even conscious, let alone standing.
Lee was the first to attempt to move, only to grab his side and freeze into place. Naruto gave a knowing smile and chuckled. It was hard to move when you had several broken ribs moving, scraping, and grinding as you made any kind of movement that involved twisting or turning the torso.
But broken ribs didn't seem to be enough to lower Lee's determination. Instead of raising his hand to forfeit, he choose instead to begin unwrapping the bandages around his forearms and allowing them to settle against ground as he prepared for one final attack.
A quick dash was all Lee could do to close the distance between him and Naruto, who was prepared and had his fist reared back in preparation. Ducking under Naruto's punch, Lee launched a foot towards his opponent's chin from his kneeled form. His foot found its mark and sent Naruto flying towards the sky, but not without renewing the screaming pain in his side. The pain didn't matter though; this was a last attempt at winning the fight. A last desperate attempt. If this failed, there would be no other Gates opened. The shear stress placed upon his body would only aggravate his wound and most likely leave him a bloody mess on the ground.
But his attack had landed and he felt assured that his attack would finish the fight. With a quick leap Lee placed himself within Naruto's shadow and began wrapping the bandages around Naruto's body, forming a cocoon of sorts. During his preparation, Lee noticed something that caused his sense to shout danger.
'Naruto's hair isn't brown.' Lee stated in his mind.
A savage kick to his ribs caused the green clad ninja to let go of the now dissolving mud clone. Lee was able to turn his head during his fall to see Naruto, performing hand seals as if that attack to his shattered ribs had not been enough.
Naruto wasn't leaving anything to chance. With the hand seals complete he threw an opened palm towards Lee. The sleeve of his shirt bulged before five black snakes shot out and headed straight for Lee. Each symbiote covered reptile wrapped themselves around a part of Lee. Two around his wrist, two around his waist, and the last around his throat.
The hidden shadow snake hand jutsu. The one reason he sought out Anko. As much as he cherished his self created web like attack, Naruto also understood it's limits. Such as the fact that a strong enough person could break the thin strands. Sure one solution could have been to simply increase it's thickness, but that would mean he would have to use more of his symbiote to create it. So when Naruto saw Anko use her hidden shadow snake jutsu, he knew that he had found a way to improve his web attack without using too much of his symbiote.
The mud clone was just a bonus that Anko talked him into learning. Her exact words were "Every ninja needs a clone of some kind that isn't that rookie illusion shit". Another bonus Naruto never intended for was signing the snake contract. Apparently Anko's jutsu was a variant of summoning and required the user to be a snake summoner.
Yanking his arm back dragged the snakes back as well. Seeing as the two were still falling, the snakes had simply pulled the two closer together. With his arms restrained, Lee could do nothing as Naruto planted his foot onto his chest and used him as a platform to jump off of. Flipping forward caused the snakes to once again follow Naruto's motion.
Finally landing onto the ground, Naruto swung his arms down and watched with a satisfied smile as the snakes slammed Lee into the ground. With a flick of his wrists, the snakes unwrapped themselves from Lee's prone body and slowly retreated back up Naruto's sleeve.
Genma waited until the snakes were out of site before walking over to Lee and inspecting the damage. It didn't take him long to declare Naruto the winner as Lee needed medical help immediately. A red stain was spotted growing on Lee's body and was quickly consuming the green spandex.
Naruto didn't jump back into the contestants' box and instead made his way for the stairs. It was only after he was out of site and within the hall way that he allowed his posture to slouch. A few more steps afterwards and he stumbled into the wall and clung to it for dear life in order to keep himself from falling over.
He didn't hear her foot steps but he knew she was there, slowly making her way towards him.
"I was going to say it suits you right for antagonizing him…. but you won so I guess I should be congratulating you. Good job Naruto."
Naruto looked up to Anko and chuckled. "Sorry. We know you told us not to, but-"
"Save it." she shook her head.
Bruises were beginning to form on his face and the shaking of his legs told her he needed rest… and help finding a place to rest.
"Come on." Anko held out her hand for him to grasp, knowing that offering her shoulder was out of the question with their size difference and carrying him there wasn't going to happen due to his pride.
Naruto took a second to grab her hand and steady himself.
"Thanks." he merely said while he used his other hand to reach back to the back of his neck and pulled a tight mask over his face. The mask was midnight black except for the two white bug-like eyes.
Anko merely assume it was to hide his bruises, but Naruto was simply ensuring his symbiote was covering his entire body and could work on slowly healing him.
Kurenai, Kiba, and Haku waited for Anko to return and were shocked when Naruto returned with her. Naruto simply gave Haku and Kiba a nod before sitting next to Haku and laying back.
"Wake us up when it's our turn to fight again." was his request before allowing himself to sleep.
Kurenai gave a worried look. "You shouldn't let him sleep. He may have a concussion."
"It's ok, I checked already." Anko simply replied. 'Not that he would listen even if he did have one, stubborn jackass.' she thought with a smile.
Haku merely stared at Naruto's sleeping form. Observing the person who had beat him, spared him, and now even attempted to help him whether he wanted it or not. Fighting him had shown Haku that Naruto wasn't like most ninjas. Watching from the sidelines had revealed even more.
At one time Zabuza had told Haku about a certain kind of ninja's and at the moment Haku couldn't help but replay those words through his head.
'If I had to categorize ninja, I'd put them into three different types. There are your jutsu types who rely on ninjutsu and genjutsu to fight. Then there are your hand to hand types who use taijutsu and kenjutsu to fight. But the last type is the kind I consider the most dangerous. These ninja's rely on their wits in the midst of a Battle. As ninja, we forget that something as simple as a kunai can kill us, but these last kind of ninja don't… and they make full use of that using any means they can. Most ninja realize this and try to imitate this by their veteran years, but it's like the saying goes, you can't teach an old dog can't learn new tricks. I've tried, but I don't have it in me. I find myself reverting back to old tactics more often than I do new ones. Haku I want you to become this third type of ninja. It's the best way you can serve as my tool…. become what I can't and cover my weakness.'
'Zabuza was right. You are dangerous, Naruto Uzumaki.' with that thought Haku turned back towards the next fight once more.
Twenty-five minutes later
"YOU DUMBASS!"
Naruto jerked upright, waking from Anko's yell. He was faintly aware of the sound of chirping birds and looked around to find the others around him plus Kakashi. Looking towards the arena made everything clear for Naruto and he turned back to Kakashi.
"YOU DUMBASS!"
Author's note: I'm not really happy with this chapter. I tried to fix it up as best as I could but... yeah I feel I could have done better. Well regardless I hope you enjoyed it.