DUDE. I stuck four battles all in this chapter! I am so proud of myself and I think they're pretty good. Hopefully you guys feel the same! ;D
DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN NARUTO! MASASHI KISHIMOTO DOES! I also do not own any of the OCs introduced in this fan fiction, except the following:
Tsukuyomi Clan
Nero
Shichi
Chi
Yasushi
A/N: BTW, this chapter is Nero's POV.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Chapter Fourteen: Battles of Friendship! Bathing in Blood!
The next battle was up and so far, there was me, Honoka, Kai, Ayaka, Shichi, Daisuke, Kishi, and Koyuki. And I could tell all of us were on our toes as we stared up at the screen, the digital green letters buzzing by before they halted, revealing two more names.
Tachibana Ayaka
VS
Shichi
I heard Ayaka make a sound of joy as she immediately got to the arena. Shichi snorted and took his time getting to the arena, flashing Ayaka a look.
"You're way too cocky. Keep it up and you're going to be ashamed when I smash your pretty face into the pavement." He told her.
"Shut up, asshole," Ayaka snapped, smirking, "You're the one who's going to be ashamed when I tear your apart." Shichi rolled his eyes in response. Asuma held his arms up, then brought them down.
"BEGIN!" Right away, Shichi moved rashly. He shot forward, whipping out kunai, which were easily blocked. Ayaka smirked and flung out her hand, hidden senbon appearing from under her palm. They burst forth and Shichi winced, ducking them, but missing the two kunai that Ayaka threw forward. The kunai shot forth and pinned Shichi to the ground by his feet.
Shichi yelled in agony and seethed curses at her. She started to make hand signs, but Shichi cut her off by tearing the kunai from his feet, throwing them at her. She caught them quickly and tossed them to the ground before whipping out a round of shuriken.
From what I can tell, they were both into fighting and didn't mind blood… And they enjoyed weapons. So far. As soon as Ayaka threw the shuriken, I knew something was wrong because they went right through Shichi. I blinked, frowning a little, then nudged Akira, who smirked.
"Genjutsu." He stated confidently, being a pretty good Genjutsu user himself. I looked back at the arena to see Ayaka looking pretty confused and pissed off about it. She growled.
"What the fuck?" She barked. Shichi smirked and his body became a blur, making Ayaka blink and rub at her eye as if she got dust in it. She stumbled back for a second, holding her head. She looked like she was going to be sick to be honest.
She was. She fell to her knees and bent over, vomiting while Shichi's laughter flitted through the air as a somewhat static version of him appeared across the arena.
"What did I tell you? In the pavement!" He taunted. Ayaka gritted her teeth, trembling slightly as she slowly got to her feet. She reached into the pockets of her black pants, whipping out several shuriken on all her fingers before she flung them out to the sides. I blinked, tilting my head for a second before I figured out why she did it.
The shuriken on her right side hit something and Shichi appeared out of the Genjutsu with Ayaka. He gasped, holding his stomach and jerked two shuriken out, looking up in time for Ayaka to swing around and run at him, kicking him in the chin and knocking him into the air. She pushed off the ground, doing a little flip before hitting both her feet into Shichi's stomach. Shichi choked and gasped, then yelped in pain when he hit the concrete.
He went to get up, but Ayaka landed back in a crouch beside him and flung her foot up into his gut again, knocking him into the air. Judging from the force behind her kicks, she was pretty pissed off. Shichi hit the ground again and Ayaka swung her foot down on his back, making him cough up some blood before he rolled over and caught her foot, dragging her to the ground and pulling himself up.
Ayaka winced, then smirked and caught one of Shichi's legs in between her own, knocking him to the floor as she scrambled to her feet, taking out a kunai. Shichi got to his feet as face as he could, but it was too late because he had no chance to duck or dodge Ayaka's next attack. He was distracted by the kunai, unbeknownst to her hand sign.
A rock shot from the ground and slammed into Shichi's face, knocking out two teeth, I noticed with a wince and holding my jaw, just imaging the pain. Within moment, Shichi hit the ground with a wet smack from the blood that he was caked in.
Even though Shichi was obviously going to pass out soon, he spat a curse at her.
"Fucking bitch! I fucking slaughter you! Just you wait! I'll kill you!" He yelled angrily, being pretty much as sore a loser as Ruriko. Ayaka smirked at him, sticking out her tongue, putting her hands on her hips.
"I don't care what the hell you say because I just beat you." She mocked as Asuma announced her as the winner. Shichi squeezed his eyes shut and spat out a last curse before going unconscious, a medical team rushing in.
I averted my eyes, cocking my head. I guess a cocky brat can win. She gained some respect from me, but I could see Akira huff.
Within moments, the computer screen had two other names up.
Saki Kishi
VS
Yagani Daisuke
Daisuke seemed relieved that it was finally his turn as he hopped over the railing, trying to be so cool in the process, and landing in a crouch before getting to his feet. Kishi easily made her way down, probably not interested in making a scene as she walked to meet Daisuke, who just smiled like a friend to her.
"BEGIN!" Asuma yelled and leapt back, probably learning that by now, he was going to get run over if he stood too close. I smirked at the thought.
"Hey, you're kinda cute," Daisuke exclaimed, painfully reminding me of Akira, "Is it possible if we could go for-"
"No, thanks," Kishi interrupted with an eye twitch, "Let's just get to fighting already."
"Well, jeez. You're eager to get your butt kicked." Daisuke huffed. Kishi sweat dropped, but the moment didn't last as Daisuke ran at her. Kishi only took one step back before she flung her hand out and jerking on what looked like air, but I found out later was a wire.
Daisuke blinked and yelped when his foot caught on a wire just a few feet in front of Kishi, knocking him on his stomach. He jerked his head up as Kishi was quick to make hand signs. Daisuke rolled out of the way as a blast of hot air came at him like a blade.
He quickly got to his feet and swung a kunai at Kishi's ankles, but she jumped over it and flipped over him, kicking him in the back and knocking him forward. Daisuke cursed under his breath when he skid across the concrete, cutting up his jumpsuit. He scrambled to his feet, whipping around in time to block a kunai attack, their faces close.
Daisuke smirked and he quickly leaned in, kissing Kishi right on the lips. My first thought was WHAT THE HELL? Daisuke! This is a ninja battle! Would you really go around kissing all your opponents? Kishi thought the same thing and yelped, jumping away from him as if she touched fire.
She hurriedly wiped her lips, making a 'blegh' noise. Daisuke stopped fighting to laugh at her.
"Calm down! It's not like it wasn't going to happen! I mean, come on! Our faces…! That close?" He laughed. Kishi was tomato red now in the face, clenching her fists and looking like she was going to tear him to shreds.
From my spot, I could see her teammate, Eiji, make somewhat of a face behind his hand and Kotori smirk.
But the kiss didn't distract Kishi for long and she quickly ran forward, flinging out a stream of shuriken. Daisuke ducked them and swung his foot forward, tripping Kishi onto her back. She swung her foot up quickly and hit Daisuke in the gut, knocking him up into the air.
"What a pervert." Akira muttered.
"Hypocrite!" Kazuya and I barked at the same time before sweat dropping. Akira snorted, but didn't bother arguing. He knew it was true. Akira would have kissed his opponent, regardless of who it was, if he wasn't trying to be mature… Or maybe he just figured he'd lose by getting bitch slapped all the way back to Sunagakure.
Kasumi didn't look like she would enjoy a big kiss on the face.
Back in the arena, Kishi had dodged several ninjutsu attacks. She was sweating and cut in several places, sporting a dark purple bruise on her shoulder. Daisuke ran at her with a kunai, the places where his jumpsuit was torn from his skid caked with blood. He was wincing, though, as he ran, making me wonder if he was wounded somewhere else.
He was so close to Kishi, but she stuck her foot out, kicking him right on the leg that seemed to be sore. Shockingly, Daisuke let out a sharp yelp and fell to his knees, grasping his ankle. Kishi looked pretty surprised too and looked at him as if she didn't understand.
I tried to think back. When would he hurt himself? He didn't do much fighting back in the… Forest… Wait, Botan's jutsu. The water jutsu. He'd made bubbles of water wrap around Daisuke's ankles to hold him down. Could that have been more than just a trap? Maybe the jutsu also crushed something inside his leg?
That seemed to be so when Daisuke jerked the pant leg up to reveal a bone jutting from his ankle. He stared at it as if he couldn't believe it was that bad. Kishi took a step back, staring at it in disbelief as well. Daisuke, instead of showing he was concerned, laughed a little.
"What'd ya know? Looks like I was hurt before we even started…" He looked up at Kishi with a smile.
"You're a good healing ninja… Wanna help me out?" Kishi looked at him doubtfully, frowning slightly. I thought she was just going to kick him in the face and get it over with, but she bent down and went to help, but Daisuke caught her around the waist and pulled her to the ground. Kishi yelped, wincing when her head hit the ground. I saw blood trickle from a gash on her forehead as she managed to wiggle away.
She scrambled to her feet and kicked Daisuke's hand away, glaring at him. Daisuke smirked and whipped around onto his knees before getting up, wincing slightly as his bone made a sickening squelch followed by a dull crack.
"Just kidding. Sorry if I marked you." He added, gesturing to the cut with a hand, but Kishi smacked it away angrily. Probably made that Daisuke tricked her. Daisuke smirked in response and went at her again, but this time, Kishi went at him at the same time, slamming her elbow into his chest. Daisuke winced and catch the back of her head by short brown her hair, jerking her back harshly. Kishi gasped, then swung her fist up, getting Daisuke in the jaw. They both skidded away from each other and Kishi stopped at that moment. That's when I saw it.
Her pupils grew noticeably smaller and I recognized it from Osamu and Ruriko's battle. That meant that Kishi and Osamu used the same jutsu. As expected, Daisuke was caught by surprise. I watched as it appeared that some blurry blue force shot forward, wrapping around Daisuke like a giant fist.
He gasped and squeezed his eyes shut, gritting his teeth tightly. I watched, probably as horrified as some of the others. Blood trickled gently from his ears and mouth. I watched as his ankle popped, the bone jutting out further, like someone was squeezing it right out.
Finally Daisuke couldn't take it anymore and yelled in pain. Kishi gasped a little as if the jutsu was straining her. The pressure seemed to be released, but Daisuke hit the ground like jello. He was shaking uncontrollably, blood seeping terribly from his cuts and especially his wounded ankle. He wasn't moving and it didn't look like he was going to move any time soon.
Kishi was declared the winner, but she looked like she wanted to check on Daisuke, even if he did piss her off like several times. As she walked by him being lifted onto a stretcher, he caught her elbow, making her look at him.
"Nice fight," Daisuke managed shakily, "Can't wait to try it again sometime." Kishi blinked, then seemed to smile faintly before coming back up.
"You like the kiss?" Kotori asked right away with a wide grin. Kishi sweat dropped, blushing.
"No!" She responded and looked quickly at Eiji, as if he to wonder what he thought about it, but he just looked the other way, blushing a little himself. That immediately assured me that they had something going on.
The computer dinged and I jumped, looking up. I breathed a sigh of relief.
Souh Kai
VS
Tachibana Honoka
I looked up, watching Kai jump from his position into the arena, Honoka following close behind. From what I could tell, Kai didn't even look like he wanted to fight. Honoka seemed more like a 'let's do this real quick, please' kinda person.
"I hope you're okay with this being quick and simple." Honoka said with a bit of a smile. Kai blinked, then shared a bit of a smile.
"Sounds good to me." He replied honestly. Honoka looked surprised that he would agree, then smiled back. Asuma came forward, sighing.
"Not good to make friends with your opponents," He sighed, then held up his arms and dropped them, "BEGIN!"
Immediately, Honoka whipped out a good earth jutsu, sending sharp stalagmites from the ground, but Kai easily hopped on them, making hand signs to create a powerful fire jutsu. This and the earth jutsu created a thick, boiling bit of lava at the center of the arena. Honoka leapt back, grimacing. Kai made quick hand signs again, but this time, it seemed more like a Genjutsu.
Feathers fluttered from the ceiling, raining down, but Honoka quickly held her hands together and the Genjutsu burst apart like watching someone throw a rock at a mirror and she bolted forward, leaping over the lava pit, making hand signs to have stalagmites shoot up and catch her feet. She went to make a hand sign, but Kai swung a kunai at her. Honoka winced and back flipped out of the way, landing on a stalagmite in the pool of lava.
Kai leapt at her, swinging his foot forward. His shoe connected with Honoka's head, knocking her flying through the air and landing on the concrete. She was holding her head, like she was shocked at the searing pain. I saw blood dribble from a wound in her forehead. She looked slightly dazed, but forced herself to her feet. Kai grimaced at the wound, but Honoka didn't stop. She started forward again, despite looking a bit pained by the movement.
Kai caught Honoka by the front of her blue shirt, jerking her up after a failed shuriken attack.
"I really don't want to hurt you…" Kai murmured. Honoka smiled a little, gripping his fist on her shirt.
"It's fine…" Was all she said before her eyes fluttered closed, her hands dropping limply to her sides. Kai winced and switched to holding her in his arms instead of so brutally. He made a hand sign, using a wind jutsu to harden the lava pit, turning the floor into a somewhat rocky surface.
A medical team raced in, Kai gently lying her in a stretcher before rejoining his team. He didn't look super proud of his win, like he rather of forfeited. I sighed, shaking my head and leaning on my elbow on the railing.
Some of these Genin actually made friends with their opponents! Ridiculous, or didn't they realize that they were beating up a friend? I was pretty annoyed, but it faded when I realized who the last opponents were.
Uchiha Koyuki
VS
Nero
I looked across the room at Koyuki, who grimaced.
This was totally unfair! Koyuki was my friend! It was like someone really hated me out there and purposely put me with her. I sighed and jumped over the railing, realizing a little too late that I just pulled a Daisuke move.
I shook my head and put my hands in my pockets, walking across the arena as Koyuki approached me.
"Well, this sucks." She smiled. I nodded, snorting.
"Shit it does… You're one of the few people in this world that I really trust… But I'm sorry. I'm going to kick your ass." I replied honestly. Koyuki beamed.
"I wouldn't have it any other way, Nero." She answered and it made my face feel kind of hot when she did that. I looked at my feet away from her. Asuma came forward.
"BEGIN!" He announced. I jerked my head up as Koyuki unsheathed her sword, its black blade glittering in the lights. She slashed it at me, but I already had my maul out to block it. Koyuki pushed back, skidding across the ground to study me for a split second. She grimaced and that's when I noticed her eyes glowed red, black pupil with three black commas.
Great. Just what I needed. Sharingan. The one thing I really rather not deal with in a battle.
She whipped out some hand signs, using a fire ball jutsu. I immediately zipped out of the way, practically teleporting. I was fast, yea, but that's me being modest. Koyuki kinda smiled, probably expecting this before she whipped around and ran at me, sword drawn.
Her sword clanged against my maul. I pushed back, jumping up with one hand in my pocket, the other holding my maul. No, my hand wasn't in my pocket because I was trying to be cool. I just didn't have a use for it at the moment.
I swung my maul back down, watching it crash into the ground instead of Koyuki, who leapt back out of the way, but just barely. Rubble flew up with dust, blocking my view of her, but she burst through it and swung her sword at me. I winced and pulled my head back, only coming out with a gash across my face.
"You're fast," Koyuki commented, studying me, "And it looks like your Taijutsu is a bit fast for my Sharingan… I'll acknowledge your strength."
"Uh, thanks… I think." I muttered. Koyuki smiled, then ran at me again, swinging her sword at me. I kept jerking back, avoiding them before I tore my foot up, kicking her hard in the gut and watching her skid back, clutching her stomach with a grimace.
I felt like I wanted to stop. I didn't want to fight Koyuki. She was my friend. The thought made me twitch. I looked at her and she looked back at me, but she was frowning now.
"Don't hold back on me, Nero… If you were my friend, you'd fight me with everything you've got. Don't be a coward." She stated, standing up straight and holding her sword out at me. I stared at her, then smiled a little.
"You have no idea what you're asking…" I said.
"Bring it on." Koyuki challenged. I made hand signs as fast as I could manage, Koyuki mimicking my every move. We finished our at the same time, a fireball jutsu that practically melted the floor. Koyuki jumped to the left, though I would have rather her jumped to the right.
I swung my maul down in the ground and made a hand sign with my free hand now, sending as many volts of electricity as possible through the crack that spread out toward her. Koyuki winced and leapt into the air, a move I didn't really plan for, so I randomly made another hand sign, letting of my maul for a split second. As soon as I did, though, Koyuki was on me, kicking me right in the face.
I flew back, slamming into a wall and denting it in. Pain electrified my body, making me spasm for a split second before I stumbled forward. Koyuki slashed her sword at me as the dust faded, the blade cutting me across my bare chest and also slicing into my cloak.
Wait. My cloak.
I took a hold of my black cloak, tearing it off and flinging it forward. Koyuki yelped a little, as if to demand why the hell I just did that. She jerked it off her, throwing it to the side and giving me the chance to bring my foot up and kick her sword out of her hands and into the air. She went to grab it, trying to kick me in the face again, but I caught her foot and jerked her off her feet. She cried out in surprise.
I held her by her foot and pushed off the ground, catching her around the waist now and pulling her down with me as we both slammed into the ground. I managed to scramble away from her as she groaned, getting to her feet and wiping blood from her face and arm. I noticed her wrist was bent at a weird angle, probably meaning I broke it. I frowned for a second, and in that second, she was on me.
She tackled me to the ground, making me yelp in surprise. She swung her elbow into my nose, causing it to bleed before she elbowed me in the side of the head. She was moving faster than before, so I had to hurry and guess her next move. I caught her red eyes with mine, staring at her and managing to block a few hits before I managed a hand sign, grabbing her biceps and squeezing.
She yelled in pain as electricity scorched her skin and clothes and she leapt away from me, but not before kicking me in the chest, making me skid along my bare back on the rugged, concrete floor. I hissed in pain, but flipped back onto my feet to block some punches that she threw at me before trying another fire jutsu, which I just matched with one of my own, causing flames to shriek and lick up at the ceiling before dying down.
She bolted at me again, this time scooping up her sword in the process. I decided to run at her too, but I scooped up my cloak instead, slipping it on. This made her smirk a little before she swung her sword at me. I ducked this time, crouching low before swinging my fist up into her jaw, knocking her high into the air. She winced a little and I shot up after her to grab her and go for another slam into the pavement together, but this time, she grabbed me!
She caught the front of my cloak and jerked me over her head, pulling me behind her so I was heading head first downwards and she ended up grabbing onto me, flipping back in the same position, bringing us down together.
We went head first into the pavement, causing another huge, deadly dent in the ground. This time, we both scrambled out with gashes in our heads, a bruise near our eyes. I went for my maul this time, ducking quickly when Koyuki raced up behind me, slashing at the back of my head. I took the handle of my maul and swung it back.
I heard a sickening series of crunches and I immediately regretted that move, whipping around and letting go of my maul to see Koyuki crumble to her knees. She was panting harshly, her legs having become crushed. I could see bone and chunks of flesh as well as a thick pool of blood under her. I felt rising panic in my throat.
"Koyuki-"
"Not done yet." She managed with a sly smirk and reached out, jerking me off my feet and throwing me across the arena. I gasped in pain, slamming face first into a wall. I managed to peel myself off, blood bubbling from the right side of my face as I stumbled to an upright position. I turned to Koyuki, who was still on her knees, unable to stand at all. She turned to me.
"Do me a favor, attack me so I can beat you. My legs are kind of useless!" She called casually, but I could see her face getting a little pale and sweat running down her face from exhaustion.
"Koyuki-" I started.
"Don't you back out on me now! I'm not finished!" Koyuki interrupted, her eyes sharp and determined. I grimaced, but complied and ran at her again. She swung her sword out at me, but not before she made a hand sign. Suddenly, her sword caught on fire, the flames shooting forward.
I felt the heat immediately and I bit back a scream, scrambling backwards and falling on my ass, probably making a fool of myself. I grasped my chest, feeling it still hot and my skin was definitely melted because when I pulled my hand back, the blood was gooey like chocolate that you left in the sun too long.
I looked at Koyuki with wide eyes, as if to say WHAT THE HELL? She laughed.
"Oh, yea. And there's that part." She added with a smirk, then swung her flaming sword at me again. This time I darted out of the way, scooping my maul up and swinging it around. Koyuki dodged while at the same time, making a slash with her sword. I moved back, but she yelled out a jutsu.
"Fire Style! Blazing Dragon!" In that instant, the flames shrieked and grew purple in the shape of a dragon, bursting out at my feet. I winced and jumped up, tearing off my shoes right away as I landed on my back, rolling over to my knees. I threw my melted shoes away, whipping around.
"What the hell?" I managed, breathing hard.
"I'm not gonna go easy on you! You're my friend and I know you can do better!" Koyuki replied with a smirk, the dragon being sucked back into her sword. She swung her palm out, a bolt of lightening shooting out at me. I winced and held up my fingers, making a hand sign with my free hand. My fingertips sparked with electricity and I caught the bolt before it hit me in the face. I spread my fingers, pulling the bolt in with my lightening jutsu and I shot it back at her. She winced and ducked it, hitting the ground on her stomach and yelping when her crushed legs scraped against the ground.
I brought my maul around. If she's that good with ninjutsu, I'm sorry, but the next move was necessary. The heavy, spiked metal ball crashed into Koyuki's outstretched hand and she cursed, but not at me, at the pain in her hand.
She lay there for a second, practically swimming in a puddle of blood, looking pretty pale and worn out. She smirked past the blood that dripped from her mouth.
"Wow," She managed, "This was a pretty fun battle, Nero…" She made a hand sign with her free hand, probably a last attempt to get me down, as she sent a fire jutsu at me, which I managed to dodge, having thrown my cloak off, which had caught on fire. I stood up, but just barely as I panted, watching Koyuki drop her free hand to look at me across the bloody, torn up ground.
"Nero has won the battle!" Asuma announced. Koyuki sighed. I walked up to her.
"That was good… I think I respect you now." I replied. Koyuki's eye twitched.
"You telling me you didn't respect me before?" She demanded. I smiled.
"I was joking. I've respected you the first time I met you, Uchiha Koyuki… And you're one of my best friends. Probably not as high an honor as becoming a Chuunin… But I thought I'd let you know." I replied. Koyuki smirked.
"Knowing you, it probably is a high honor." She answered, coughing a little afterwards. I smiled a little more and bent down.
"What're you doing?" She demanded.
"What's it look like? I'm going to do you the honor of carrying you to the hospital." I retorted, lifting her up. Koyuki rolled her eyes, but she smirked anyway.
"You're not such a bad friend yourself… But careful. You're looking pretty bad yourself." She pointed out. I snorted.
"Che, I've had worse. Trust me… I'll tell you the story sometime." My mouth said, my mind barely catching up. She'd be the first one, other than Ruriko and her family to know what had happened…
That made me smile.
I looked up at Kazuya and Akira, smirking.
"Do me a favor, get the information for my next battle. I'm taking her to the hospital myself." I called up to them, then walked out the front doors, feeling pretty accomplished.
Koyuki actually taught me some things in this battle that I was sure to remember for the rest of my dull life.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
A/N: Wow, I should be sued for coming up with terrible chapter names… :D! Anyway, I'm pretty content with how this is turning out. I'm nearing the end of this beginning, ready for the Shippuden chapter. The Shippuden, for those who wish to know, is three years forward. It's matching up with the original Naruto series, except… Let's just say I'm fan tweaking it. :'D Yes, there is a Shippuden. Yes, there is going to be an after series. Which means after the Shippuden, our characters will be all grown up adults with husbands (maybe) and children (maybe)! So be thinking if you want to be in that part of the series, but don't worry. C: You have time to think about it! A lot of time. Lol. So, thanks so very much for reading, hope the OCs are in character, and your reviews are just plain freaking awesome!