Chapter 14 Team Spar's
The chosen spot indeed was more than suitable for Shikamaru's proposed spar. It was a large field, with a few tall trees scattered around the field, which were perfect for using as cover.
"So Shikamaru, how are we going to do this?" Sakura asked.
"We are going to use Naruto's ridiculous amount stamina and chakra to our advantage in this situation." Shikamaru proclaimed.
Naruto looked confused, but chose not to say anything, although he had a bad feeling about this, "Naruto is going to spar…with all of us."
The other team members raised their eyebrows in question, while Naruto also seemed to have paled considerably and released a nervous chuckle.
"O-Ok then."
"I don't mean all of us at the same time, Naruto is going to fight each of us one at a time. This way we will not lose focus on each person's fighting style in a four way battle royal." Shikamaru made sure the others were with him before he asked his next question.
"Which of the three of us causes the most damage in an area?" Lee didn't even give anybody a chance to speak, and automatically responded loudly, and in a conclusive tone.
"Sakura-san."
Sakura was slightly flushed, and crossed her arms looking at the ground, before she emitted an annoyed grunt in agreement. Naruto blinked in puzzlement, wondering what was it that made Lee hold no trace of doubt.
Shikamaru raised an eyebrow sharing the same suspicion but continued, "Well I can say for myself I'm the least destructive of the bunch."
Sakura looked up, still embarrassed from earlier, "Does that mean your sparing with Naruto first?"
"Nope."
Sakura's eye twitched, "Why not?"
Shikamaru shrugged, "It's too much of a drag to be honest."
'You lazy son of a-' Sakura withheld that thought, even though he was a lazy idiot, he was the team leader and had to respect his decisions…even if the excuse was pathetic.
Lee already put two and two together and smiled with a clenched fist waving in the air, "HAWWWWW! The time has finally come for our spar Naruto-kun!"
Naruto smirked at the miniature Gai's spirit, "Alright Fuzzy Brows, I warned you earlier though, I am going to clobber you to a pulp!"
"Baka! Just shut up and get out there." Sakura growled.
Naruto and Lee stood in the middle of the field at a distance of several meters and gave each other a stern stare.
"What are the rules Fuzzy Brows?"
"No high level nin jutsu's excluding kage bunshin, no gates."
Naruto pouted, "But Fuzzy Brows, that minuses most of my jutsu's..."
"So does that mean you haven't learnt anything new then, Naruto?" Shikamaru called, satisfied with the glare sent to him by the blond.
'I know heaps more, but I would need to use the-'
Naruto cut his thoughts off harshly, and mentally shook his head, 'No.'
"Deal, Fuzzy Brows." Both combatants looked at each other square in the eye, as they issued their silent agreement on a countdown.
Three…
Two…
One…
GO!
Lee covered the gap between him and Naruto in not even a second and span around quickly in a spinning blur and shouted, "Konoha Senpuu!" The green blurred foot came to a solid stop when it colliding with Naruto's head with a loud bash, until a 'poof' overlapped the successful strike, replacing 'Naruto' in a explosion of dust. Lee felt a presence coming from the tree in front of him and looked up to gaze at the incoming rain of steel from kunais.
Lee snatched his nun-chucks off of his utility belt and almost like a dance, deflected all of the kunai that would have collided with him. Sending several flying in numerous directions as the two steels met. Lee's eyes suddenly widened however, when the kunai that he deflected 'poofed' into familiar balls of orange figures. Before the clones were upon him, Lee crouched into a small ball and readied his stance.
"Dai Senpuu!"
Lee then shot up several feet into the air spinning his body around like a type of dancer, releasing a violent whirlwind of sharp chakra around him sending the doppelgangers flying before disappearing from existence.
Lee's small victory was cut short however when he saw a fuma shuriken making a bee line towards him. Lee quickly prepared his nun-chucks to stop the spinning blade right in its tracks. That is until the shuriken 'poofed' into a pair of Naruto's and began a bombardment of punches and kicks at Lee in perfect synchronization, forcing Lee onto the defensive. Lee quickly did several back flips to get away from the pair, until all he saw was orange.
Lee surveyed his surroundings and noticed that he was encircled by at least two dozen doppelgangers of Naruto. Lee couldn't help but smirk at one of the clones.
"I see you have improved with your usage with the kage bunshin Naruto kun."
A voice behind lee responded, "And I see you have gotten faster yet again Fuzzy Brows. Also looks like you have practiced a lot with that weapon of yours too."
Lee turned to face the direction of the voice, remaining in his stance in case he was to be ambushed, "It's time to step this up a bit Naruto-kun"
A voice answered from Lee's right, "Hehehe…bring it Fuzzy Brows!"
Lee unconsciously flicked the nun-chucks in one of his hands, before clipping it back to his belt. Then he reached down for his knees and two loud 'clicks' were heard. Lee then brought up and presented the weights to his orange crowd. Lee's smirk became wider when he heard numerous curses come from the clones.
"He was wearing weights!?"
"Baka! When does he not wear weights? , geez sometimes you guys are a bunch of idiots."
"YOU are me! Baka!" The curses were silenced when the ground began to rumble, as Lee had let go of his weights and then began reaching for his wrists and a second two 'clicks' were heard.
"Oh shit…."
Several of the clones whimpered, as Lee repeated the same motion as before and stared straight into one of the Naruto's in front of him, "IKIMASHOU!!!!" And a second rumble was heard, and then within a second several of the clones had been already destroyed.
To the two observers on the side, Lee was nothing but a large green blur amongst the army of orange. Sakura was agape, "A-Amazing!" she stuttered out, watching as the Naruto's were 'poofing' out of existence in seconds. Naruto amongst the clones gasped when he felt something zoom past him, and deliver a firm kick in the back, shooting him across blasting into several other clones, dispersing them in one big 'poof'.
'HOW FAST IS HE?!'
Quickly substituting himself with one of his kage bunshin, he was relieved when Lee had momentarily paused in surprise to when he delivered a second blow to the now nonexistent clone. He took the split pause to his advantage as he jammed his fingers together, "Taju kage bunshin no jutsu."
"HAWWW! LET'S GO ALL OUT NARUTO-KUN!"
Lee shouted to the orange army coming into existence, as Lee whipped out his nun-chucks and resumed his blurred onslaught. While resuming his assault to find the real Naruto, Lee left behind dispersion clouds in his frenzied task. The fight was undeterminable because of the chaos, until a loud CRACK was heard throughout the field. And the pair waited in anticipation and in Sakura's case worry as well, as the large mass of smoke from the dissipated clones had cleared.
What they saw though made their sweat dropped. Lee had somehow made his Nun-chucks collide with his own face. Lee was rubbing his nose furiously, as a small tickle of blood ran down his lower face. Sakura was afraid he broke his nose until she heard Lee speak, luckily not hearing the familiar muffled sound a broken nose would cause.
"That was clever Naruto-kun, dissipating your kage bunshin before I hit them, making me self inflict damage on myself, you are a great strategist!"
Shikamaru snorted loudly at the bold claim, then they spotted Naruto waving his arms, with an apologetic look on his face not far from Lee.
"Sorry Fuzzy Brows, it's not that I meant to do that, you were just hitting my clones so fast, you could hit them at least twice before they disappeared..."
"Oh? I see." Lee mumbled, rubbing his nose once more, before falling back into his stance.
"Let's continue then Naruto-kun." Naruto barely had enough time to react to Lee's sudden burst of speed, summoning a single clone to defend against Lee's onslaught of attacks. It was similar to before, but this time in complete reversal.
Naruto was trying to contemplate his next move, until his eyes narrowed when lee wrapped his nun-chucks around himself.
'What is fuzzy brow's…'
Naruto didn't even get to finish his thought as he felt the chakra build up suddenly around the nun-chucks and then his eyes widened, 'Impossible! He-'
Naruto was again cut off from his thoughts as Lee shouted, "Konoha Senpuu!" and flicked the nun-chucks around so fast that even the Sharingan wouldn't see it coming. The result was a shockwave of chakra that was visible to the naked eye that arched around Lee's entire front. The shockwave collided with both of the Naruto's, and sent them airborne. Only one 'poof' was heard, and that's when Lee acted.
Lee lowered himself in a crouch and then sprung himself into the sky, shadowing Naruto from underneath his body. Before Naruto knew what happened, he felt the solid enwrapping of bandages holding him in the air and his eyes widening in realization. Lee was about to call out the name of his jutsu, until the most unexpected thing happened.
'poof'
All three shared the same expression of shock and confusion, 'how?! Lee-san hit him? Kage bunshin's should disappear with a single hit!?!'
Lee however, didn't have the luxury to think long about what had just happened though as he saw several people waiting on the ground bellow him like a pack of dogs waiting for a dangling piece of meat to fall off a stick. Lee reached for one of his kunai, and cut the wasted bandages from his Renge, then he reached for his spear, 'Remember to aim shallow, this is just a friendly spar after all' Lee mused.
Just before Lee landed, and the surrounding Naruto 's were able to pounce, did Lee unlocked the retracted spear. The moment Lee's feet hit the soft ground, he stood up as straight as humanly possible and then began rapidly spinning the spear around himself. To any other person, this would appear as an ordinary circus trick, to the trained eyes of a shinobi it was a sight to see. With each flick of the spear, Lee was releasing a small shockwave of sharp chakra that reached a couple of feet further than the spears physical size. The several clones surrounding Lee all dispelled, along with the cry from the real Naruto, who was knocked a few feet backwards from the collision with the chakra.
Lee stopped his attack, and placed the spear diagonally across his back, keeping one hand firmly open in front of him, ready in case it was a trap. Naruto staggered to his feet, gripping his right shoulder which had a semi sized gash going down.
Naruto's expression wasn't really one of pain though, more shock, "W-What was that?!" he staggered.
Lee took a step back from Naruto and began his explanation, "It took me a while, but I eventually learnt how to branch my taijutsu style attacks into my weapons. It's all thanks to Tenten and Ninkame-sensei I am where I'm at now with its control. I cannot mould chakra like an ordinary shinobi if you recall Naruto-kun."
Naruto nodded his head at the explanation, while looking at the gash on his shoulder, "Then why did I get cut with that spear, but not with the nun-chucks?"
Presenting said item, Lee continued, "The reason these didn't hurt you before Naruto-kun was because the shape of the weapon doesn't have any fine sharp edges. Whereas this-" Lee lifted his spear up for emphasis "-has small sharp edges on its corners, because of this instead of an arc forming like the nun-chucks, a small sharp edge is formed when I release the chakra shockwave. This allows me to cut further than its actual physical reach…had I wanted to Naruto-kun, I could have cut that arm right off."
Naruto's eyes widened and he paled while unconsciously gripping his cut shoulder more, "W-well good thing we are friends hey."
He began laughing nervously until asking in slight hint of panic, "Right…?"
Lee laughed, "Of course Naruto-kun! I would never do something like that to honestly anybody unless I had no choice!" Naruto sighed in relief, he turned his head in question though when he felt the soft but firm hand of Sakura on his non injured shoulder.
"Let me see, Naruto." She spoke softly.
Naruto did as he was told and allowed Sakura to see his right shoulder. He winced when she placed her palm over it, "Don't be such a baby, baka!" she scolded and rolled her eyes, although her grin betrayed her feigned annoyance.
Naruto pouted, "That hurt Sakura-ch-" He was forced to stop when he felt the soothing warm sensation over his injured shoulder. Naruto looked down in amazement, as Sakura's hand glowed a bright green aura.
Sakura chuckled, "You do remember I am the apprentice of the best medic-nin in the world right?"
Naruto was dumbfounded but responded, "Y-yeah…" Within seconds Sakura's hand stopped glowing and she removed her arm from Naruto's now healed shoulder, "How's that?" she asked, with a smirk of pride clear on her features. Naruto couldn't believe it, and poked his shoulder to see if it would hurt, and blinked in amazement when it didn't.
"Sakura-chan…you are so awesome!" He beamed.
Sakura was caught off guard with that praise and flushed slightly and laughed.
"You're welcome…now please explain what happened earlier with Lee when he had you caught in the bandages…I thought kage bunshin could only be hit once before dispelling?"
Naruto felt the eyes of his other teammates land on him, with the same questioning gaze. He grinned and took a step back from Sakura, "Yosh, Kage bunshin's only take a single hit before they dissipate. However I worked out if I spent more time in concentration and poured a lot more chakra into the jutsu, I can create a clone that is a lot stronger, and can take more hits before disappearing."
Naruto then formed his favourite seal but paused and closed his eyes in concentration. He then opened them and shouted "Kage bunshin no jutsu!" and a single clone 'poofed' into existence.
Naruto then continued "The more time I spend on moulding the chakra, the more hits the clone can take. However, Ero-sennin discovered when I used it in training that if it comes in direct contact from chakra internally, like when dispelling a Genjutsu, the clone will dissipate."
To demonstrate Naruto elbowed his clone hard in the gut. Then while the clone was muttering curses to its original, Naruto placed his hand on the clones shoulder and forced chakra through it, instantly dispelling it.
Naruto turned back to his team and gave a sheepish smile "Because my chakra control is a little…bad, I can only create one of these 'super' clones. The chakra requirement is unreal too for the clone. The one I summoned in time before Fuzzy Brows attacked me used the same it would take to create thirty clones. The limit I can make is a clone that uses the same amount of chakra as two hundred clones, but it takes me around five seconds to create."
Shikamaru was playing the numbers game, "Wait a minute. Kage bunshin equally splits the chakra between the user and their clones. Does that not mean simply creating one bunshin would have the same effect?"
Naruto blinked, "No. I told you, I am pouring up to two hundred clones worth into the one clone."
Sakura was catching on, "But that doesn't make sense. It is still half the amount between the two."
The blonde's shaking head still held no doubt, "I am pouring MORE chakra than normal."
Shikamaru had to admit, this was a tough riddle, "You are pouring more chakra than just splitting half..."
Both Sakura and Shikamaru shared a sudden realisation glance, "Y-You are not just splitting your chakra in half with it!"
Sakura stuttered out, now making Naruto hold confusion, "Huh?"
Shaking his head, Shikamaru clarified for the still puzzled Lee, "You said you are putting two hundred clones worth into it, but the rule of kage bunshin is that you are splitting your chakra in equal half. It is obvious there is heaps more chakra involved with this modification. You are not pouring two hundred clones worth into the jutsu...Y-You are splitting your chakra into a two hundredth division between you and the clone!"
"A two hund-what?!" Naruto could only blink still in confusion, while the other three were looking at him as if he was a walking enigma.
'Yet he is barely even phased after splitting his chakra down to so little...how much bloody chakra does this guy have?!' Shikamaru's mind practically staggered out.
The group continuing their state of shock directed at him was beginning to get to Naruto, "E-Ermm, well it made more sense when I was pouring two hundred clones worth."
Sakura recovered quicker compared to the rest, as she knew the reason why, "So basically, only you can create this type of clone, Naruto?" She lightly teased with a grin.
Naruto scratched the back of his head and chuckled, welcoming the change from the awkwardness, "Hehe, yeah!"
Shikamaru had recovered soon after, "That still doesn't explain how you escaped Lee's jutsu, it was clearly obvious one of you was the real you."
What the others did not expect though was Naruto to burst into laughter, "You guys truly didn't see it hey?!" he beamed, still laughing.
He quickly calmed down and then formed a seal "Henge no jutsu" he whispered. The team's eyes widened when they heard the familiar 'poof' the kage bunshin's made when they were killed. Only this time there was a log roughly half Naruto's size sitting there on the grass before them.
Lee staggered, "D-Does that mean…" He was silenced when Naruto 'poofed' back to his normal self, sitting there crossed legged with a large smile on his face.
"You all were too focused on the clone in the air, while I henged into a log and fell to the ground to prepare my counter attack." The rest of the team yet again went wide eyed and agape.
Shikamaru recovered first this time, "Number one ninja at surprising people...I can see how the saying came around now." Lee nodded in agreement.
Shikamaru started stretching, "So Naruto, do you require a small break?" he said through a yawn.
"Well I-"
"Good, let's get going before this becomes too troublesome." The shadow user interrupted Naruto, as he began walking towards the trees in the middle of the field. Naruto pouted, and muttered something along the lines of 'Nobody cares about me' as he followed.
Naruto quickly took note of where Shikamaru proposed their spar took place on the field. They were standing in between several of the trees.
Naruto smirked at the implication, "Going to try catching me in your shadow are we, Shikamaru?" Shikamaru grunted, while he began wrapping something around one of his kunai that Naruto couldn't work out what it was. Shikamaru finally responded, in that typical laid back manner he always had.
"The sun is too bright out here, it would be less troublesome to fight in the shade."
Naruto snickered at the clear lie, "What restrictions would you like Shikam-"
"None."
Naruto's eyes widened, "Ehh? Are you sure Shikamaru?" Shikamaru nodded lazily, and sighed that he would have to explain his reasons once again.
"While your spar with Lee showed us a fair few of your abilities, we didn't see any of your 'awesome jutsu' that you were referring to." Shikamaru said, dripping with sarcasm towards the end.
Naruto raised an eyebrow, "Are you underestimating me Shikamaru?"
"Are you underestimating ME, Naruto?"
Naruto charged straight towards the shadow user, determined to wipe that smirk off his smug face. Until Naruto quickly realized he had been tricked, and looked down and to his confirmations, he saw the small fast blur of Shikamaru's shadow heading straight towards him. Naruto changed course, and did several rolls and jumps backwards in desperate attempt to get away. His eyes Narrowed when the shadow instantly corrected its course.
Naruto quickly formed his favourite seal in the middle of his next jump. "Kage bunshin no jutsu!" Naruto then did a back flip and shouted 'Henge no jutsu!' and turned himself into the shape of a fuma shuriken. The clone then grabbed the 'shuriken' and threw it at an angle, spinning around the trees, until disappearing out of sight behind one. The clone then 'poofed' as it got caught in the shadow.
Naruto's eyes narrowed behind the tree he was hiding from Shikamaru's far right. He took note that Shikamaru still hadn't moved from his spot not far from a tree. He then formed his favourite seal again, and began his plan.
Shikamaru's eyes narrowed, as he saw the familiar blond headed figure reveal himself partially behind a tree to his right.
'Surely he is not that dumb, he is up to something…heh, guess it's time I put it to use then.' he mused. Shikamaru got down on one knee, and then formed his usual seal used for his shadow techniques.
"Ankoku metsuki no jutsu" he whispered, closing his eyes.
A large figure appeared through Shikamaru's shadow, at first it looked like some sort of line, then it starting slithering almost as if it was a snake. It towered Shikamaru's crouched form at 7feet in height. It was then Shikamaru opened his eyes to reveal his pupils had disappeared. And his eyes had no white in them, just a bottomless pit of black.
Sakura and Lee gasped. "W-What is that?" Sakura asked.
Lee 's eyes narrowed and then said, "It looks like it is...searching for something?" Shikamaru's 'eyes' looked left and right. The shadows gaze fell on the tree Naruto was hiding behind.
Shikamaru saw the light outline around Naruto, he took note that he appeared to be climbing up the tree.
'Probably to use the trees to get around behind me.' he concluded.
His 'eyes' then caught a sparkle of light below. In interest he looked down and his eyes widened.
There below his feet and coming up rapidly, was none other than another Naruto. There was an insanely bright light coming from the Naruto's palm 'Rasengan!' Shikamaru's mind shouted. He barely had enough time to dodge, as Naruto exploded out of the ground, Rasengan cutting through the ground like a drill.
"Rasenga-huh?"
Naruto said in confusion when he missed his target coming out of the ground. Shikamaru reached into his weapon pouch and threw the kunai he had tagged earlier. The kunai flew past the still airborne ascending Naruto, and then it exploded with a blinding light.
The others couldn't see what happened, but when Naruto landed Rasengan still in hand, and wasn't moving a muscle, they knew he had been caught. Shikamaru then brought his hand up to his head and held it away from a roughly a foot. Naruto did the same, only the Rasengan was centimetres away from connecting with his head.
"Well, it seems you're in a bit of a sticky situation Naruto." Shikamaru said proudly and mockingly. Naruto gritted his teeth in annoyance, until breaking into a smirk.
'poof'
"Did you forget about something?" A voice said behind the now yawning Shikamaru.
"Nope."
And just as he finished saying that, the Naruto behind him fell over on the ground hard, causing Naruto to cry in surprise. Naruto's body was then dragged quickly through the grass towards the nearest tree. Then Naruto was lifted off his feet, hanging upside down several feet in the air. Naruto groaned in irritation, 'Why does this ALWAYS happen to me?!' he mentally cursed, before glaring daggers at the innocently observing Shikamaru and shouting curses.
"What the hell! You rigged the field before we started?!"
Shikamaru shook his head "I set up the trap using my shadow, while you were too busy climbing a tree, you great strategist you." Naruto crossed his arms in annoyance, and mutter incoherent words, although at the sight of him hanging upside down, it was quite humorous.
"Hiden Taijutsu Ougi!"
A voice shouted behind him and Shikamaru turned his head wide eyed. He saw Naruto charging straight towards him in a seal foreign to him. The look on his face though actually sent a chill down Shikamaru's spine, it was a look and expression filled with a sadistic joy along with an evil smirk.
'Naruto...please for the love of god don't do THAT of all things.' Sakura mused in disapproval, covering her face in refusal to see what was about to happen. Naruto moved before Shikamaru could react and lodged his fingers into a....sensitive area.
"Sennen goroshi!"
Shikamaru was sent airborne gripping his buttocks and screaming in pain and surprise.
"Naruto...you baka!" Sakura muffled through her hand, shaking her head repeatedly.
Lee was however astounded, "Naruto-kun is amazing! That Jutsu appears very lethal! So this is the result of his training?"
Sakura had to look at Lee to make sure he was sanely speaking, "Lee-san...I hope you're not being serious."
To say Shikamaru was not amused was a serious understatement. He was limping back in sight, occasionally rubbing his buttocks. The look on his face was very entertaining.
"Shikamaru…lets end it there." Said the Naruto hanging in the tree, as the clone was untying him from above.
"….This is too troublesome." Said Naruto, before the clone cut him free, and he fell to the ground.
Shikamaru nodded in agreement. "Indeed…far too troublesome." Sakura's sweat dropped and her left eye unconsciously twitched.
'….Idiots.'
Lee however was shouting very much the opposite. "THAT'S SO HIP NARUTO-KUN!"
The pair limped or walked their way over to the others.
Lee was already at Naruto with questions, "Naruto-kun where did you learn that jutsu? Can I learn it too? Does it require any seals? Does I-"
"LEE-SAN!...it's a forbidden jutsu." Sakura tried to cover up the fact that it WASN'T a jutsu at all.
Shikamaru shook his head muttering 'Troublesome'.
"So Naruto...where were these 'new awesome' jutsu of yours?"
"You chickened out early so I didn't have a chance to use them!"
"...You were the one that suggested it."
Sakura decided to cut in to their argument, "Shikamaru…what was that jutsu you used earlier, I've never seen anything like it before?" Shikamaru released a sigh, and began his explanation on the ankoku metsuki.
"So that's how you saw me coming at you from both sides, that jutsu almost gives the byakugan a run for its money!" Lee and Sakura nodded their heads in agreement.
Shikamaru shrugged, "like I said, I can only see through the shadow in one spot at a time, so it not exactly a complete sphere of vision like the byakugan."
Sakura then looked to Naruto, "Are you ready for another fight Naruto?" She asked.
Naruto grinned and beamed, "Hai, Sakura-chan!"
"Alright, let's get going then." She said as they walked towards the field. When they were out of immediate hearing range Sakura added in a whisper.
"Naruto, if you hold back on me, I promise you, that I will beat the hell out of you."
Naruto turned and looked into her emerald orbs and smiled, "I'll try not to disappoint you then Sakura-chan!"
It was Naruto's turn to pick where to fight this time. He chose to be positioned on the field out in the open, with a few of the trees not far from his back. He looked to his friend.
"What are the restrictions, Sakura-chan?"
"None." She responded, as she pulled out of her weapon pouch a pair of thick gloves, and began putting them on, she eyed her weight bands while doing so.
'Lee-san said I should wear them at all times, this is the perfect opportunity to give them a work out.' she concluded, and kept them on.
Before dropping into a stance she added, "Naruto, as your friend I feel I should warn you."
Naruto raised an eyebrow in question and Sakura continued, "…Don't try and block my attacks, you will regret it."
With that she rushed towards Naruto, readying a punch. Naruto followed her advice and dodged her punches, he felt a weird sensation though with each punch that he just dodged.
'...What is this feeling…is that…chakra?'
Naruto had no idea when he was retreated back to the trees, but he gasped when he realized he had been cornered by a tree. He barely dodged to the right in time, but the tree wasn't so lucky. What the group saw made all three look dumb founded. The tree had broke in half from where Sakura's fist had connected, sending the poor tree falling over and landing with a loud 'thump' giving off a mini tremor.
"...Holy shit!" Staggered out to everyone's surprise, Shikamaru of all people.
Lee without breaking his gaze said to the shadow user, "You really didn't know anything about Sakura-san's overpowering youth, didn't you Shikamaru-kun?"
Shikamaru just nodded dully, still in shock.
Naruto had paled noticeably when he saw the damage done to the tree occur in a loop in his head.
'I-I better stop fooling around Sakura-chan…I might get killed.'
He inwardly whimpered, secretly thanking god he had avoided her fists all this time.
"Are you going to just stand there and look like an idiot, or are you going to do something?" Sakura's scolding brought him out of his thoughts and he readied a kunai and rushed.
Sakura raised an eyebrow but dodged stylishly as he tried to slash poorly at her. She continued to gracefully dance around his attempts to hit her, while growing more frustrated by the second at his un-Naruto like fighting. Pulling out the kunai holstered on her back, she clashed against his kunai several times in rhythm. She then changed her strategy with his next slash attempt, putting away her kunai and grabbing his arm while bringing her fist to millimetres away from hitting his shocked face.
"Naruto, I swear to god if you keep holding back on me I am going to hit you for real next time!" She then vented out her rage with a harsh dong on the blonds head, which brought to her surprise amazing satisfaction, as she then shoved him back.
"Take me seriously damn it!" She hissed, while Naruto rubbed his lump forming head.
"S-Sorry Sakura-chan." He replied with automatically, forming his seal which made her grin.
"Now that's more like it!"
"Kage bunshin no jutsu!" He shouted, as several dozen clones came into existence and began attacking Sakura. To his surprise Sakura was evading and countering most of his clones bombardment very well, although he was getting the occasional hit in.
'Blasted weights!, I can really feel them slowing down my hand coordination now more than ever!' Sakura inwardly cursed as another clone successfully landed a hit through her guard. What further aggravated her though other than her slowed speed was how light the blows felt from the successful hits. Deciding she had enough she took action after the next attack. A clone took a swing at her head, which she ducked and delivered an upper cut to the clones jaw, sending it air born for a few seconds before it dispersed.
She was given little time to celebrate as two other clones were upon her. She eventually found an opening in the pair's synchronised attacks, delivering an elbow in the gut to one blond, while then spinning around on one leg to kick box the other one square in the face. Sensing an incoming hit from behind, she span and blocked the foot with her arm, then grabbed the offending leg and swung the Naruto into another one coming at her side. She glared at the remaining blond that she had tossed not far from her.
"Damn it Naruto I know you are better than this!" The blond picked himself up and mumbled his apologies again.
Sakura groaned, but decided to poke, "Are you telling me that even though you left the village to train for two years with Jiraiya-sama, that you made little progress at all?!"
"I-I-"
"Stop treating me like I am not worth your time and fight me like I'm not made of glass Naruto!" Naruto was taken aback at her angered words, but she didn't let it end.
"And your clone's punches are making me more laugh than wince, what are you a wuss?"
Naruto waved his hands frantically to butt in. "I didn't want to hurt you, that is the truth."
Sakura sighed and spoke calmer, "I understand Naruto..."
"I didn't mean to insult you Sakura-chan, really I didn't."
She shook her head but shot a smile, "I know."
"I will take you more seriously now, I swear."
"Thanks baka."
Wiping all emotions off their faces, they continued their spar. "Kage bunshin no jutsu." Another set of clones appeared and rushed again. The kunoichi knew he finally listened to her, since not only were his attacks less sloppy, they also were a lot less opening for her to exploit. It amazed her how the successful hit to her gut brought more satisfaction than pain.
'He finally is taking me seriously!' She mused, ending the surrounding clones attack by slamming her fist into the ground, emitting a tremor around them that made them lose balance in surprise. With the clones sudden disruption, it allowed her to begin her counter attack, by quickly making short work of the pair closest to her, then falling back in to the defensive when the other four recovered.
Naruto didn't grant her any more advantage, when he created two for every one clone she was successfully able to disperse. The odds were soon overwhelmingly against her, as she quickly rubbed the sweat off her forehead.
"Are you planning to just tire me out?"
"Maybe." The blond called out, hidden in the now nest of encircled clones. Sakura shook her head with a grin.
"Are you actually ever going to show us something new Naruto?"
"But I have."
"So you can make an enhanced kage bunshin-"
"SUPER kage bunshin!"
"-Enhanced kage bunshin...what else do you have hidden up your sleeve?"
The sudden grip around her ankles made her gasp, as she looked down to see two arms affixed to her feet uprooted from the floor below her, effectively binding her.
'Uh oh.'
When the surrounding clones made a dash for her, she replaced her shock with a grin, and formed a seal. 'Alright, clones can't take much of a beating from internal damage so...' Her hands began to solidify with razor sharp blue chakra, which gave out a loud hum. 'Chakra scalpels on contact should disperse them.'
When the closest Naruto was about to declare victory with a fist, the slash like motion at his offending arm dispersed him from reality. "SHANNARO!" She shouted, as she fought the onslaught of clones without being able to move from her spot.
Sakura would barely call herself the victor in her counter attack, but when she had taken down enough of the clones to grant her opportunity, she swiped her scalpels at the offending death grip on her legs, freeing her from her binding. The clones that the blond continued to summon surrounded her ready for their next open opportunity. She brushed over one of the numerous bruises that had formed over her and was satisfied with its numbing sensation shooting from contact.
"That was clever baka, what else you got?"
Her ears perked when she heard the familiar sound of a rapid spinning chakra ball coming towards her side. Naruto made a bee line through his clones with his Rasengan ready, although he was prepared to stop if he felt he was going to hit Sakura with it. What happened next he never saw coming in a million years.
Sakura with a round house kick, swung at the side of the Rasengan and launched it out of Naruto's hands. The high speed projectile went soaring through several clones and made a course straight towards a stunned and agape Shikamaru. Lee was about to save Shikamaru but stopped and went agape when the Rasengan dissipated meters from them in a blue hue.
"Holy shit…." Shikamaru said, out of character for the second time.
Naruto opened and closed his mouth, almost imitating a fish perfectly, "W-Wha-what-h-how?!-" Was all he managed to voice out.
Sakura herself stood confused and chuckled, "I honestly have no idea Naruto. I didn't think, I just acted." she chuckled again.
Shikamaru finally recovered and his eyes narrowed, 'So you were willing the chance to lose your foot, to something you didn't even know was going to work!?! Troublesome woman.'
Naruto however was still in shock, 'One of my most powerful jutsu's….DEFEATED BY A KICK?!? I'm so glad Ero-sennin is not here.' Naruto cringed, although he could have sworn he heard from afar the said perverted sage taunting him with 'the previous Hokage's would roll in their graves if they're so called successor could be defeated by the foot of a girl, gaki!'
Sakura sensing her friend's distress, prompted, "Shall we continue?"
Naruto slowly nodded before responding, "U-Umm...yeah, I haven't hurt you too bad have I-" The blond had to jump back into his sea of clones for his life, before her raging kick could connect with his gut.
"I'm fine you idiot, bring it on!"
The clones obliged to her request and resumed their relentless attacks, only unlike her, they were not even showing signs of growing exhausted, and her lack of stamina was starting to show as more hits were falling through her slowing guard. Sakura realized that she wouldn't be able to keep up for long if she didn't do something. She crouched, her hair flickering up as she just dodged a clones sweep, then she sprung herself high into the air. She then readied her fist which was practically sparking glowing with a great amount of chakra. "SHANNARO!!" She then slammed the ground on her landing, causing the soft land all around her to crack apart like a piece of loaf, as the entire field felt the shockwave of a miniature earthquake rumble over their sandals.
"…Holy shi-"
"Shikamaru-kun, while I know it is amazing to see Sakura-san display her glorious power in her spring time of youth, what would your mother think if she heard you using so many curses in one day?"
Shikamaru groaned, "….Troublesome."
Sakura could barely see what was around her from all the smoke caused by the disappearing clones. She barely had time to dodge the Rasengan coming from her back. She twirled to the side of the charging Naruto, gripped his Rasengan wielding left hand by the wrist, and pushed it upwards over her shoulder. Then using her right hand before Naruto could react, she placed it over his chest.
"Don't move!" She hissed to Naruto. Naruto finally recovered in time to notice her palm over his chest was glowing with chakra that looked shaped like some sort of sharp tool.
"This chakra scalpel is directly over your heart, if I wanted to Naruto, I could kill you right now and you wouldn't even have realized." she said, her voice lacking of emotions.
Naruto's eyes widened when he noticed Sakura smirk, "But then again….you aren't the real Naruto." and she pushed her palm down hard on his chest. Naruto's eyes widened even more as he gasped.
'Poof'
Sakura jumped back in time to dodge the barrage of kunai her eyes narrowed, 'This is just like what happened with Lee-san' Sakura looked to her right and discovered that the tree she had knocked over earlier was only a few meters away.
She inwardly chuckled, 'Heh…this will put the fear of god into him.'
Sakura dashed towards the tree, hearing the 'poof's' of the henged clones behind her and closing. She placed both her hands on the tip of the tree and gripped as hard as she could. The tree noticeably cracked under the pressure of her hold. She then using all her might and swung the tree while spinning on her feet. "SHANNARO!!" She roared out again, feeling the slight bumps felt by the tree with its successful collision with the clones. The tree then collided with the ground at the end of her swing, sending parts of the ground flying on impact. Sakura's eyes narrowed when she saw a second wave of clones heading towards her and she prepared again.
This time she released her hold at the start of her swing, sending the spinning tree flying towards the clones. She resisted the giggle when she heard the Naruto's curse at the incoming wooden wall of doom. The tree flew straight through the clones, and collided with a tree not far, snapping the tree in half, and causing the other to tumble over with a loud 'thud'.
Shikamaru was speechless, "It really is truly unbelievable how much Sakura-san has grown isn't it?" Lee said, he took the silence as acknowledgement and continued, "I myself have no idea when Sakura-san changed so much, but I remember the look on her face when you guys left to try and bring back Sasuke-kun."
Shikamaru slowly turned to face Lee, "She looked completely helpless and hopeless. When you guys came back from the mission, I caught her leaving Naruto-kun's room when I was on my way to see him. The look in her eye was something I had never seen before…Determination...That was the same day Sakura-san became Hokage-sama's apprentice." Shikamaru took all that new information in and nodded.
'And I had the cheek that time to insult her during the chuunin exams…heh, I'm surprised she hasn't come back for revenge yet.'
Sakura groaned at the pain shooting up her arms from flinging the tree. Using her chakra to enhance her muscles was something she wasn't quite adept for unlike Tsunade, which further was cemented by her gasps for air. Her recovery was short, as her senses kicked in and she turned to see Naruto charging towards her at the distance. The lack of the usual clone army made her eyebrow raise in question.
'Is he crazy? Why would he want to rush me head on, Unless…' She decided to play his game and in turn dashed towards him as well. When they met they exchanged fists and kicks. Naruto made the mistake to block one of Sakura's kicks and instantly regretted it. Naruto gritted his teeth tightly to suppress the cry of pain. While he was momentarily stunned, he didn't see Sakura deliver an upwards punch to his gut, sending him airborne.
'That wasn't a clone??! Good thing I didn't put all my power into that punch then…Naruto you baka!' Sakura mused. She didn't expect what happened next though. While in the air Naruto summoned two clones. With one clone he created a Rasengan, while the other gripped onto Naruto's feet. Once the Rasengan was created, the assisting clone dispelled, and then the clone gripping Naruto's feet swung him around several times until he the clone released his grasp, sending Naruto with the Rasengan flying like a missile straight towards Sakura.
"Rasengan!" He shouted, as Sakura jumped back in time to avoid the loud drill like impact, creating a good sized crater. Sakura didn't have long to recover, when Naruto came charging through the smoke of the crater with the Rasengan still in hand.
Sakura raised an eyebrow, 'Something really doesn't add up, he knows that isn't going to work.' her other eyebrow joined her raised one when 'Naruto' 'poofed' out of existence.
"It was a clone to begin with." Said a proud beaming voice from behind her. Sakura turned slowly and looked at Naruto, who held a Rasengan pointed at her back roughly a foot out of reach, although its violent wind could be felt hitting her back.
Naruto noticed her eyes seemed to flicker slightly brighter than normal, but paid no attention to it. "You really have become strong, Naruto." Sakura said softly, giving a genuine smile to her friend. Before Naruto could return the gesture, Sakura interrupted.
"However!" and then she burst into the bright glowing forms of small and elegant Sakura petals.
Naruto's eyes widened in realisation, 'GENJUTSU!'
Remembering his lecture from Jiraiya, Naruto began dropping his chakra levels to as minimal as he could go. Then forming a seal began moulding as much chakra as he could in an instant. He smirked in victory when he felt the illusion fade away, but soon turned to a look of confusion when he was greeted with a fist held an inch away from his face.
"I win." Said a familiar feminine voice, as the fist dropped to reveal the same smile from earlier to Naruto.
Naruto blinked a few times in shock, until he finally shook it off and returned the overdue gesture. "You really have become amazing Sakura-chan!" He beamed giving a big familiar fox smile. Sakura laughed and rubbed the back of her neck unconsciously.
"Thanks...you still didn't take me seriously though baka." Naruto shook his head, but she beat him to speaking.
"Look at me, I'm exhausted. You on the other hand haven't broken a sweat, even after fighting all three of us." The blond scratched his head sheepishly.
"I just have a lot of stamina."
Sakura sighed but smiled anyway, "I still am interested in what you have learnt though. I admit you have improved greatly Naruto, but come on. There has to be more to your training with Jiraiya-sama than just that...why would you bother to leave the village then?" She hinted lightly.
"What do you..." Naruto trailed off, as her smile widened.
"I mean there had to have been an important reason why you had to go with Jiraiya-sama, I know he is always busy, but there had to be something...something, unique, that required Jiraiya-sama's aid." Naruto's eyes widened, while his head's otherwise casual itch intensified.
"I-I don't know what you mean Sakura-cha-"
"Naruto…" She said again with a bit more emphasis, which made Naruto give a light gasp as he suddenly understood what she meant.
"Sakura-chan...You..." Naruto's mouth hung wide open and her smile softened.
"I know."
Those two simple words somehow hit Naruto like a brick wall, shattering his composure from acting casual to sudden shock. Despite his minds sudden overflow of questions, he managed to try and mumble out the loudest question, "H-H-How-I-I-"
"Naruto! Just relax...we will talk later ok?"
"D-Did Ero-sennin-"
"Naruto..." She interrupted softly, her smile remaining, which at least calmed down his rising panic.
"E-Err-I..."
"Later..." His small grin and nod while it held unease, to Sakura's relief was just as genuine as her own.
Sensing footsteps approaching from behind, the two teens put on their poker faces, although Naruto's shock and tenseness could still be deciphered.
"I missed exactly what happened there, it appeared to me one minute Naruto had you, then he seemed to space out." Shikamaru said, still slightly shaken by the damage they had walked past to get to where the remaining half of team 7 was standing. Sakura turned to the shadow user.
"It is a genjutsu I have been working on for quite some time, while the effect of it actually is a standard C ranked genjutsu, I have been practicing placing it through eye contact. More or less, it is almost like a doujutsu similar to that of the Sharingan. Kakashi sensei suggested I look into it since it is possible for shinobi without a kekkai genkai to achieve it, but it requires a strong degree of control. However, since I do not have a kekkai genkai that can cast genjutsu naturally, that is the highest rank I can use, as any more chakra flowing through my eyes could potentially make me go blind." Sakura explained.
Shikamaru nodded, then pointed at the entire field behind him, "And….that?"
Sakura rolled her eyes, "That is the result of my training for two years with Tsunade-sama. It involves me building up chakra within my body, and then suddenly releasing it within an instant. Depending on how much chakra I build up, the harder is to control...but as you can see, the more catastrophic it becomes."
"What about when you kicked my Rasengan Sakura-chan?" asked Naruto, still with traces of shock hidden in his voice.
Sakura grinned back at Naruto, who chirped her reply cheerfully back, "As I told you before baka, I really have no idea how I did that."
"I know how." Announced Lee, which made all eyes fall on him.
"When your foot collided with Naruto-kun's Rasengan, you released your chakra build up the split second your foot came in contact. In doing so, it was like two chakra sources colliding with each other. Had you released it a split second earlier or later, it would have resulted in you getting very injured. The reason the collision didn't cause the Rasengan to explode is because Naruto-kun has improved in his chakra control, as unimpressive as he claims it is."
Naruto's slight chuckle didn't stop Lee from continuing, "So the Rasengan was stable enough that in combination with your momentum and chakra enhancement, it was like a stationary tennis ball being struck in mid air by a tennis racket. The reason the Rasengan dissipated before it was about to hit Shikamaru-kun is because the jutsu requires constant pouring of chakra as Naruto-kun once told me, hence why it only lasted a mere few seconds before dissipating."
All three teens looked dumbfounded at Lee. 'And there he goes again, showing his surprisingly very bright intelligence…what a troublesome guy to try to understand.' Thought Shikamaru.
Sakura chuckled and rubbed the back of her neck unconsciously as she just realized something "I really did take a very large risk in doing what I did then didn't I?" she said rhetorically.
"One more question Sakura-chan, how did you know the clone before wasn't me?" Naruto asked. He raised an eyebrow when Sakura laughed.
After a moment to calm down she replied, "While your kage bunshin's are perfect clones physically and chakra wise, medically they are a complete mess. One such flaw is they do not have a heartbeat, even though they do bleed. I was able to determine that with my chakra scalpel. That is how I knew it wasn't you, Naruto."
Naruto mouthed a silent 'oh' and then nodded. Shikamaru cleared his throat, "So just to see that this entire exercise wasn't a waste of time…and my well being, Naruto I want you to briefly summarize each one of us, I will summarize you afterwards." Naruto chuckled nervously but did as he was ordered to do.
"Fuzzy Brows fights with only taijutsu, but he can kick the crap out of anyone that challenges him. He is very skilled with his weapons as well, and can even use chakra to make his attacks super powerful. However as we all already know, his speed is what makes him so freaking strong." Lee couldn't hold back the grin of pride.
"As for you Shikamaru, you still use your shadow techniques as always. You however plan ahead of your enemies and predict almost all situations, and use them to lure the enemy into a trap. You carry on your person equipment that helps you extend the range of shadows. You also have that ability that allows you to see motion through objects, but you are limited to seeing in only one spot at a time throughout your shadow. Finally you're still as lazy as hell!" Shikamaru nodded lazily as if that final bit at the end meant nothing to him.
Naruto then turned to Sakura. "Sakura-chan is so awesome! She knows medical jutsu and can heal injuries in seconds. She also is skilled in Genjutsu and can cast it through her eyes. Sakura-chan also appears to be very skilled in evasion. Sakura-chan's speed is a little slow but I can see she is already working on improving that. Finally there is her monstrous strength which sh-"
"Naruto! What did you just say?!" Sakura spoke in a voice that would even make the Kyuubi itself cower in fear, the sound of fabric being crushed by her clenched fist of her glove also added for effect. So it can only be imagined what Naruto's reaction was, priceless.
"I-I-I-I-I mean Sakura-chan has….amazing chakra control."
"Better." Interrupted Sakura in a less annoyed tone.
"Because of this she can deal major damage to objects she hits, possibly even defeat an opponent in a single hit. Her chakra control also allows Sakura-chan to temporarily increase her strength, and lift objects that she normally wouldn't be able to."
Naruto finished nervously, waiting for approval to see if he said anything wrong. He was a little thrown off balance when he received Sakura's version of the nice guy pose, "Hai, good summary Naruto."
Naruto released a bit more of an over emphasized sigh of relief. All eyes were then on Shikamaru, expecting his own analysis to be up to standard with Naruto's.
"…..Well your Naruto." and that's all he said.
All the others looked dumbfounded, "That's it?!" Sakura said in annoyance.
Shikamaru nodded, "As my…sensitive region and myself agree, it is far too troublesome to even know where to start."
"Don't worry Naruto-kun, ill summarises you instead." said Lee a little too excited for the blonds comfort.
"Naruto-kun, you have improved with your timing with the kage bunshin's greatly, you also use them far more effectively than before. You also seem to be able to coordinate perfectly in union with your bunshin's. You think more tactically now than before during a fight, even though you may still pull your occasional slip up. You have expanded your Kage bunshin ability and have learnt to create a single powerful clone that can sustain numerous hits before dissipating. There is evidence to prove that your chakra control has improved, although you continue to deny it."
Naruto chuckled and Sakura shook her head but Lee continued ,"To conclude…YOU ARE WORTHY AN ETERNAL RIVAL THROUGHOUT THE REST OF OUR YOUTHAL LIVES NARUTO-KUN! I DEMAND A REMATCH WITH NO RESTRICTIONS AND LET US SHED OUR SWEAT THROUGH OUR SPRINGTIME OF YOUTH!!!"
Shikamaru's and Sakura's sweat dropped. 'And there he goes again…being a complete stupid and disturbing idiot like his Sensei' Shikamaru thought.
Naruto just had to add more fuel to the forest fire though, "YOSHA! I ACCEPT YOUR CHALLEN-" Naruto's claim was interrupted by his stomach emitting a loud roar.
He almost matched Sakura's hair colour in embarrassment, "Ehehehe….maybe after I get something to eat Fuzzy Brows"
"Baka!"
Shikamaru sighs at his teams antics, "I actually was suggesting he hasn't changed pretty much at all."
That announcement, even though it held no such disrespect in it, had both Lee and Sakura looking at him in disgust. The Nara held both his hands up as if conceiting, "Whoa, easy. I am simply saying other than his improved kage bunshin timing, and enhanced kage bunshin...well that is all that has changed."
Naruto's shoulders slumped, 'I knew they were going to think that. I have so much more jutsu I have learnt with Ero-sennin, but all of them involve using...'
"I don't see anything wrong with that. At least Naruto showed WAY more impressive things than you did, Shikamaru!"
Naruto couldn't believe who just said that, and even looked at them to confirm who just defended him.
It was Sakura, and she really was glaring at the shadow user.
He still was recovering from what Sakura hinted she knew about before, but now he was at a loss. Shikamaru still held his hands up in defeat, "Troublesome, I didn't mean it that way."
Turning, Shikamaru waved his hand over his head, "Let's go back already, before my butt isn't the only thing that gets hurt."
Lee quickly caught up and walked with Shikamaru, as Sakura started to follow, until she realised someone still hadn't moved. Tilting her head, she saw Naruto's stunned expression on her.
Forming a grin, she gestured, "Hurry up Naruto, we will leave you behind otherwise!"
Recovering, Naruto quickly jogged and then walked beside her, "M-My bad!"
While walking, Sakura felt his oceanic blue eyed gaze again, and looked to see his disbelief once again, along with traces of alarm.
'He actually can't accept I still see him as my teammate and friend...'
Naruto flinched when she gave him an assuring smile, "Is something the matter Naruto?"
"U-U-Umm-"
Chuckling, Sakura shook her head at his incoherent mutters, "You silly baka."
Naruto just sheepishly scratched his head, while Sakura made another statement, "You didn't take any of us seriously, did you?"
"U-Umm-" It was becoming a new habit for Naruto to be thrown off guard it would seem.
"I know you appeared to take Lee-san seriously, and I am not even considering accepting Shikamaru's 'fight' as legit. If anything, you both just bummed around. And you still held back like a wimp on me."
"I-I-"
"Hehe. I thought so Naruto. You are explaining this to me later."
Further up front, Shikamaru cursed this mission, 'Terrific, I get stuck with one complete idiot, one person that is also an idiot and is partially crazy, and one very violent and ill tempered person who gets an extra mark on the scale for just being a woman….how very troublesome.'
AN: this has manga spoilers. Only read if you are turned off by Naruto's abilities/character from this chapter.
This is an update.
There have been too many negative reviews on this point to leave it any further.
Yes, Naruto is EXACTLY like he is in canon.
He did not mysteriously learn everything from part 2, nor did he suddenly become super intelligent, or he is as mature either as he is in Pein's fight.
This is not within part 2, this is still in between. He is essentially an older version of Naruto from part 1. He thinks on his feet when the situation calls for it (ie Kiba's fight).
Why have I made it appear everybody else improve then and not him?
semi next chapter spoiler here, only read if you really are turned off by Naruto
-
Think about it, were you as disappointed as I was when Naruto came back at the start of part 2, and all he demonstrated was he was a bit smarter, and had improved kage bunshin timing.
Then after, we discover he only learnt ONE new jutsu, being oodama rasengan.
I REFUSE to accept he goofed off for three years with Jiraiya to come back like that back then, where as Sakura had a complete turn around.
My theory to that is that all of his training...went on the Kyuubi. Controlling it, learning to use it in fights, etc.
If you disagree with me further at this point, that is fine then, this fiction probably is not for you.