A.N.: So here comes another one. For everybody who complained about fights between minor characters, I apologize, but here comes one more. For everybody else, read, enjoy and review. And for those who haven't noticed yet, there is a picture of young Temari on my DA account.
A.N.2: Now reposted with less grammar and spelling errors.
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. I'm tired of trying to think up something funny for every chapter.
"This is going to be a cats' and dogs' fight," remarked one of the spectators. Hana's sensitive hearing picked it even over the roar of the crowd. She smirked. The man was right. It was going to be a cats' and dogs' fight and she was itching to show the arrogant cat boy just which one of them was better. The Haimaru triplets barked in anticipation. They couldn't wait to chase some cats as well.
Akira on the other side of the stadium was having similar thoughts. He was more then ready to pound some mangy mutts into their place. Kurotsume meowed in agreement. He was trembling with excitement as well. They were going to pound the arrogant Inuzuka to the ground, no matter they had the numerical advantage. Four times nothing was still nothing, while they were mighty shinobi of the Sand.
The two (or six in their opinion) combatants stood in the middle of the arena, both snarling, the Inuzuka growling and the Kineko hissing. The proctor glanced to make sure they were prepared, then signaled for the match to begin and vacated the arena.
Hana didn't waste a second, activating the Shikyaku no Jutsu before the sand from Maruishi's shunshin settled down. She immediately gained a feral appearance. Her opponent followed suit with his family version of Beast Mimicry technique. His eyes turned slitted like a cat's, his ears become pointed, his teeth grew longer and sharper and his nails turned into sharp claws, his hair now resembling a lion's mane. The two opponents now looked eerily similar, despite one sporting canine and the other feline traits.
The dog mistress attacked first. She started forward to engage the cat master in a taijutsu battle, her dogs meanwhile attacking the overgrown black cat.
Hana's charge was fast and ferocious, but the Kineko clan transformation ensured him superior speed. He evaded her attack without even trying and slashed his claws at her. She blocked with her forearm, but the sharp thin nails pierced her skin anyway. She bared her teeth in a threatening grimace and kicked at his legs. He jumped over her shin and tried to punch her face. She turned her head to avoid it.
The exchange of blows continued for another minute. Then the kunoichi jumped back and disengaged. So far she discovered that her opponent was bigger, stronger and faster than her, though his taijutsu skill wasn't superior, he was maintaining the upper hand in this combat. Even the Haimaru siblings weren't faring too well, they were still young and the cat seemed fully grown. Kurotsume was throwing them around. It was time to step up the fight.
She withdrew four Soldier pills from her pouch and threw three of them to her partners. The puppies grew in size and they fur darkened. She swallowed the last one herself. She could already feel the energy filling her veins.
"All right, boys," she called, "let's go wild! Juujin Bunshin!" The three canines were enveloped in clouds of chakra. When they dispersed, four exact copies of Inuzuka Hana were standing there, all of them growling threateningly. "Gatsuuga!"
Four flurry tornadoes sped towards Akira. He was moving before they could get halfway to him. It stretched the limits of his speed, but he managed to get out of their way. They changed their direction to follow him, but couldn't maneuver properly at such speed. Then he realized something. Their charge at him was only a feint. Their real target had been Kurotsume all the time. They guessed which way he would dodge and used the pretense of going after him to hide their true intentions. The moment they were revealed it was already too late.
The great panther spotted the danger heading his way and with feline grace sprang to evade. He almost made it. One of the Tsuuga caught his flank cutting a long gash into it. It hardly went any deeper than skin, but it hurt nevertheless. He roared in pain.
The Inuzuka foursome stopped their spins and looked at the results of their ploy. The cat was bleeding slightly, but it sustained no debilitating injury. But then she never expected to take him out with the first charge.
"Kurotsume," Akira shouted furiously. That bitch dared to touch his precious cat. She'll pay for that dearly, he was going to see to that. He took out his own Soldier pills and threw one to his partner. The panther swallowed it and undergone his own transformation. It seemed to grow, its eyes glowed golden and its fur gained a reddish sheen. "Come on," shouted Akira. "Kineko style: The sphinx!" Swirling chakra surrounded the pair. Hana knew that whatever would come out of it wouldn't be good for her, but she was too slow to stop it.
The whirl of chakra died down revealing something from ancient legends. The being's lower half of the body belonged to a great feline, resembling Kurotsume but much bigger. Where the neck and head should be was instead a human torso, larger than it should be, but the face undoubtedly belonged to Akira.
The dog mistress had no idea what the creature could do, but she decided she didn't want to find out. She called her dogs to her. "Inuzuka style: Nibai Soutou Rou!" She joined with one of her dogs, the remaining two joined together. Soon there were two big double-headed wolves facing the cat-like monster. "Let's go," the one on the right growled. They charged at the enemy.
The cat ninja weren't waiting idly for them to come. The Sphinx reached into his utility pouch, which he retained during the jutsu, and took out a sealing scroll. With a puff of smoke a monstrous halberd appeared in his hands. The charging wolves changed directions just in time to avoid being pierced through. This wasn't going to be easy, but she already knew that. She paused for a moment to think.
The Kineko capitalized on it instantly. He jumped forward, his weapon poised to strike. She narrowly avoided the sharp point, than tried to grab the pole with one of her heads. The feline beast noticed it and withdrew his weapon. Her jaws snapped empty.
She was now inside his guard. She jumped forward to grab his shoulder. He jumped backwards. She pursued him. He swung his halberd at her. It sliced into her side. She yelped in pain and grabbed it with her jaws. He tried to take it back, but her teeth held fast. The other head barked an order. The Kineko had barely time to look over his shoulder, when the other Soutou Rou went into a Garouga. He let go of his weapon and jumped to avoid it, but he couldn't match the speed of the Wolf's Fang. It slammed into his side. It then proceeded to throw him into the air and slam him into the arena wall.
Their landing threw up a huge cloud of dust. When it cleared, it revealed Akira, Kurotsume and two of the Haimaru triplets lying on the ground. Small whimpers could be heard from the downed group. Akira tried to move, he managed to rise to his hands and knees, but Hana, still in the Double-headed Wolf form, was upon him in an instant, closing her jaws around him. The sharp points of her teeth digging into his skin stressed the hopelessness of his situation.
"I yield," he whimpered through clenched teeth. He couldn't believe he lost to some mangy mutt, but he couldn't deny the reality of the mouth threatening to slice him into three pieces at the slightest provocation, not to mention that half of the bones in his body felt broken.
"Winner: Inuzuka Hana," announced the proctor. The kunoichi immediately separated from her dog. The technique took the majority of her chakra. She would be at great disadvantage in the upcoming fight, she could only hope her next opponent would be even worse off after his first fight.
She refused to let any weakness show on her and left the arena followed by her faithful dogs. She'll have to sacrifice even more of her precious chakra to heal them before the next fight. It occurred to her that she might have to forfeit, but her pride prevented her from doing so. She definitely was going to fight, even if she should lose within the first minute.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Spectators'stands~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Wow," Kiba exclaimed. "You rock, sister!"
"Excellent, Hana," Tsume shouted. "You showed him up!" She was glad her daughter beat up the arrogant Kineko. Their clans had a grudge against each other since before the founding of the Hidden Villages. It wasn't anything major, just some rivalry sprouting from the natures of cats and dogs.
She turned to Kiba. "So you see how important it's to train?"
"Yes," he nodded. "So when will I get my dog? Or can I get three like Hana? Or four?"
"You wouldn't know how to handle one," Kuromaru remarked.
"That's right," his mistress nodded. "You can't get a partner until you prove you can handle one."
"Aw, mom," Kiba pouted. "I can handle one."
"I don't think so," she shook her head resolutely.
"That's not fair," he complained.
"Life's not fair," Kuromaru turned his only eye to him. "Get used to it."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Kage booth~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"A lot of power in the both of them, but too short tempers for chuunin," the Tsuchikage said.
"I remember the Kineko losing his composure, but when exactly did the Inuzuka do anything rash?" the Hokage asked.
"You mean except the beginning, when she charged a bigger, stronger opponent?" the Kazekage asked. "She was angry the whole time and it clouded her judgment. She wasted lots of chakra here."
"She showed more strategy than her opponent did," Sarutobi pointed out.
"But not enough."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Finalists' booth~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Way to go, Hana!" Naruto shouted. Even he was amazed that his teammate could fight so well. He had seen Soutou Rou only once before and never two of them at once. He considered it impressive even back then, but now it was a completely different show.
"It's quite something, isn't it?" Hotaru agreed.
"I can't believe Akira lost," Mizue shook her head.
"Now it's up to you to save the honor of our team," Toshiro said. Even he came here as soon as he managed to escape the infirmary.
"Don't even remind me," she grimaced. Nightmarish images of what Youkou-sensei would do if all of them lost in the first round entered her consciousness. Despite the hot day she shivered. She needed something to take her mind of such depressing matters. "Hey, you purple wench," she turned to Hotaru, "I'm going to kick you until your own mom won't be able to recognize you!"
"You wish," Hotaru smirked. "I bet you're going to trip over your braids. What's up with them anyway? What serious kunoichi can let her hair grow that long?"
"And what about you?" Mizue shot back. "How much do you spend on hair dyes? And have you forgotten your clothes today?"
Hotaru growled. Nobody insulted her hair.
"Uh, girls," Naruto said. "Shouldn't you keep it for the duel?"
Sure enough, the proctor called. "Fifth match of the quarterfinals, Uzuki Hotaru of Konoha versus Mizue of Suna." The girls scowled at each other once more before heading downstairs.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~The arena floor~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hotaru was secretly glad her opponent for the first round was a girl. Even though she became confident in her abilities during the last half year, most of the competitors still looked too tough for her to beat. But the girl with the ridiculously long hair looked like she could be a relatively easy opponent. Of course, Tenzo-sensei had beaten into their heads that appearances are often deceiving, but she still felt optimistic about her first duel.
The other kunoichi casually strolled into the arena, her four long braids adorned with strange ornaments at the ends swinging behind her.
"Ready to lose?" she taunted.
"You stole my words," returned Hotaru.
"So sure of yourself, pretty girl?" the Suna kunoichi sniped.
"Look who's talking," the purple clad girl scoffed.
"Ready?" the proctor asked before the verbal fight could escalate. Both kunoichi nodded. "Begin," he said and vacated the arena.
Hotaru drew her sword. Mizue did the same. The Konoha genin looked curiously at her weapon. The blade looked weird, too wide to have a real edge. What trick was there to it?
The two opponents eyed each other warily for several seconds. Then Hotaru lost patience and charged. Mizue prepared to counter her. When the purple-haired girl got close enough, she struck.
Hotaru first couldn't understand why the other girl moved so soon. She was still far outside her reach. Then her strange sword started unfolding. Hotaru's eyes widened. If she tried to block the attack, the blade would just go around her and hit her from behind. She jumped high to avoid the blow, but the snake-like blade moved to follow her. Out of the corner of her eye she noticed her opponent smirking. That wasn't good.
She twisted in the air. She managed to kick the flat side of the blade before it could slice her. The tip of the sword turned to pierce her back, but she blocked it with her own blade. She was almost on top of the other girl, ready to kick her face. Then her hair came into life.
'What the…' was the only thought in Hotaru's head before the braids swung at her, the trinkets on them suddenly looking dangerous instead of ornamental. She couldn't halt her descent now.
Mizue thought she had her opponent, but then she suddenly turned into a rock, one of those that remained from an earlier match. Kawarimi, she realized. She barely had time to jump out of the way. She swore and turned around to search for her opponent.
She didn't have to look for long. The purple-haired Konoha kunoichi was already running at her, her kodachi crackling with Lightning chakra. The Suna genin swung her strange weapon at her. Hotaru blocked. The blades met with a crack of electricity. Hotaru hoped it would shock her opponent, but she didn't even flinch. The handle must be insulated. This called for a different approach.
She lifted her hands to form a sequence of seals. 'Raiton: Wide Strike.' Lightning bolts launched from her fingertips, heading in the general direction of her opponent. Realizing she couldn't dodge in time, she pulled a Kawarimi. Hotaru's attack scorched only a boulder. Seeing this she quickly moved from her spot. It proved to be a wise decision, Mizue attacked from behind.
The Leaf kunoichi considered her options. The bending sword sure was pesky. It prevented her from moving close and she wasn't particularly skilled at distance fighting. She'd have to take that weapon from her, the only question was how. An idea formed in her mind, she only needed time to make it work.
She created a group of basic Bunshin and had them attack the Suna girl. She let Mizue to figure out whether they were corporeal or not on her own and quickly dug into her equipment pouch. She pulled out a roll of ninja wire and started tying it to kunai. Tenzo's words about always being prepared resounded in her head. It wasn't that she was unmindful of them, she just never used that kind of weaponry before. She wasn't much good with it anyway, but now it seemed like it was her only option.
Mizue finally realized she was fighting illusions and that her opponent was preparing something. She decided to stop her before she could finish. Hotaru saw her charge. It came sooner than she hoped, but not before she readied six of her kunai. She stood up and threw the first of them. Mizue moved only slightly to evade. Hotaru launched her other weapons. Mizue came within range and unleashed her snake-like sword. Hotaru pulled on the wires.
The long blade was closing on her dangerously, but then it was stopped. The wires bound themselves around it. Mizue swore. Hotaru pulled and tried to take the weapon, but Mizue's grip was unrelenting. Then she noticed something and had to prevent a smirk from appearing on her face. She sent a pulse of Lightning chakra into the wires. It ran along them and into the other girl's hand that was touching the guard now. Mizue screamed. Her muscles spasmed and tightened around the handle. She didn't lose the grip on her sword, but her hand become useless for the moment. Hotaru saw the opportunity and capitalized on it. She grabbed her kodachi and attacked.
Even one-handed the Sand genin was far from defenseless. Her braids moved once more, assuming protective position in front of her. Hotaru prepared to bat them away. A slight whistle of air warned her of danger coming from behind. She swerved to the left, but the tip of the bending blade still caught her in the side. 'How?' she thought startled. She resumed her charge. She was almost atop the other girl.
The four braids and folding blade were in defensive positions, but she wasn't deterred. Her own sword was filled with Lightning chakra. She swung it and released the electricity in one bolt. At such a close range the Suna kunoichi couldn't even think of dodging. Her hair moved to protect her, but did her little good. The bolt struck dead on. Mizue crumpled on the ground.
Hotaru jumped in to land the finishing blow, mindful of Common mission mishap number 4: supposedly knocked-out enemy isn't really out of the game yet. The lesson had proven too true again. Her sword strike was blocked by the bending blade. Mizue was shocked and burned, but still not out of the fight. Hotaru kicked her in the stomach. Mizue skidded across the sandy ground. Hotaru pressed her advantage, raising her kodachi for another strike.
The long-haired girl shook off the worst effects of the lightning strike. She still had trouble moving, but she could manipulate her weapons. She sent her braids to hit Hotaru's legs, but the purple-haired girl jumped over them. But she still had one last defense left. Her left hand formed a seal and held her breath. The ornaments adorning her braids let out a cloud of reddish smoke.
The Konoha kunoichi noticed what she was doing and held her own breath. She landed next to her opponent and kicked her in the head. Mizue slumped on the ground unconscious. Hotaru then quickly vacated the gas-filled area.
The proctor appeared and briefly examined the downed combatant. "Winner: Uzuki Hotaru."
She was so relieved. She came dangerously close to losing on too many occasions. She thanked the applauding audience and stumbled out of the arena. The fight wasn't long, but it had taken a lot out of her. She sustained a wound and she barely defeated what was one of the weakest competitors. Even the squirt Naruto didn't have so much trouble with his opponent. Once again she felt doubts about her ability.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Kage booth~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Interesting fighting style the Suna girl has," the Hokage observed. "I have seen attempts at using puppetry techniques in close combat before, but none quite like this."
"But she lost," the Kazekage spat. It was a bitter pill to swallow. Out of the five Suna genin whose fights already took place only one had advanced. It was unacceptable. He could only hope that the last one would fare better.
Behind the esteemed village leaders one of Hokage's ANBU guards smiled behind her mask. She knew her cousin had it in her, she had trained with her often enough. Her stance betrayed nothing of her thoughts. She was a professional after all.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Finalists' booth~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Damn it," Toshiro swore to no-one in particular. Akira was still in the infirmary. All his team was out and none of them had even put a spectacular fight. Youkou-sensei was going to train them to the ground for this.
"Awesome, Hotaru!" Naruto cheered wildly. He had a good reason. They were the only team that advanced as a whole. None of the others could boast the same. It was just too bad he had nobody to share his joy with. Hana was still somewhere healing her wounded dogs. A pity she couldn't witness this fight.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Down in the arena~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"The sixth match of the quarterfinals," Maruishi called, "Kurotsuchi of Iwa against Aoyume Daiki of Suna."
Kurotsuchi strolled into the arena with a sway. Her opponent was a short, wimpy-looking boy in loose robe-like outfit in bluish color, looking utterly harmless. The Tsuchikage's granddaughter wasn't fooled though. She cultivated the 'useless' image herself, with her bright red top and miniskirt and mesh leggings, and many enemies had fallen victim to the dangerous deception. She was convinced that despite his appearance her opponent was quite capable. Too bad she had no idea what he specialized in. She could make a guess though.
He didn't seem to have a lot of weapons on his person, despite the concealing garb. His attire also wasn't overly practical for taijutsu, so that left ninjutsu and genjutsu. She tried to recall everything she knew about his family. Being from a Kage's family gave her considerably better access to information than was usual among genin.
The Aoyume were a small clan from Suna, not prominent. Little was known about their specific abilities, they tended to use general ninja skills, usually being proficient with genjutsu. She reckoned that was this one's style of choice as well. If it was so, things were looking good for her. She was quite adept at detecting and dispelling them and not too bad at casting them either.
She had no problem looking confident and intimidating. When the proctor signaled the beginning of the match, she immediately charged. If the Suna boy was indeed a genjutsu specialist, there was no use giving him time to ensnare her in one of his illusions.
The boy darted out of the way. "That wasn't too good," he observed. His voice had a strange singsong quality to it. She turned on her heel and charged at him again, this time throwing a few shuriken for good measure. He evaded easily again. "Is this all you can do?" he taunted.
"You haven't seen anything yet," she snarled. That baby-faced sissyboy was seriously pissing her off. Eyes narrowed, she took a moment to consider which jutsu would be best to squash him.
"Have you fallen asleep?" She was seriously fed up with his jabs. She was going to wipe that arrogant smirk from his face.
'Doton: Giant's Hands.' Her fingers flickered through required handseals and a giant stone hand rose from the ground, trying to grab the Suna genin's legs and squash them. He noticed the danger in time and jumped away, just as she expected him to. Another hand appeared. It managed to touch his ankle before he turned into a boulder. 'What?' she thought, then some instinct warned her about danger behind her. She jumped to the side and Daiki's kunai narrowly missed her.
'Damn, a Kawarimi,' she thought. 'How comes I haven't noticed it earlier?'
"That was pathetic," the blue-clad boy snickered. She answered with a hail of shuriken. He dodged, but she used wires attached to them to change their course. They hit him and passed right through.
'Bunshin? Genjutsu? I must be slipping,' thought the Iwa kunoichi. "Kai," she tried the dispelling technique. Nothing changed. 'What?' she couldn't understand. 'Is the illusion so complex or is there none at all?'
"You look confused," Daiki observed with mirth. She whirled around. She was going to rip him a new one. A part of her mind noted that she didn't even detect him until he spoke. She paid it no heed. With a handseal she forced the earth to form a spike and impale the pest. He disappeared with a burst of smoke.
'Another Bunshin?' She couldn't believe her eyes. He was leading her around. How dare he? When she got her hands on him… A part of her brain pointed out that she would first have to get her hands on him and that would be quite difficult if she couldn't find him. She had to admit that it was true.
"What are you doing, striking at thin air?" the obnoxious kid jibed again. Her face twisted into a snarl. How dare he… 'How does he make me so angry anyway? I don't usually react to taunts like that. Scratch it, I never do. So why does he? And how is he hiding? Genjutsu perhaps?'
"Kai," she attempted dispelling again. Nothing changed around her, but she felt a bit calmer. 'I was right, he is doing something to me,' she realized, 'but how? I've never heard about a genjutsu like this.'
"Doesn't work, does it?" the Suna sand rat singsonged and she once again saw red. She whirled around, already halfway through the seal sequence for a devastating Earth jutsu. 'His voice,' she realized. 'Every time he speaks, I get angrier. He already made me waste lots of chakra. I mustn't allow it to continue.'
"Kai," she said for the third time during the duel. It helped a little bit.
"Seriously, what are you trying to accomplish?" And she was back where she started. It was getting irritating, but she barely noticed through her fury. 'I have to stay focused,' the rational part of her mind commanded, but it was too hard to obey. "Can't you talk?" 'I mustn't listen to him. I mustn't listen to him,' she repeated like a mantra. It helped her a bit, but Daiki was pressing his advantage. "You Iwa nin are really as thick as rocks."
"Kai," she tried again, even though she knew it was an exercise in futility. She put her fingers to her ears. "I won't listen to you anymore," she shouted.
"But that isn't so easy, is it?" he called back. Damn it, he was still influencing her. And she had no idea where was he hiding. There was only one thing she could do now. She had learned the technique only recently and still wasn't proficient enough with it, but she was confident she could pull it of.
'Doton: Stone Rose Garden.' Earthen vines sprouted from the ground in a wide circle around Kurotsuchi, most of them having sharp thorns. The Rock kunoichi swore. She couldn't cover the whole arena with them and only about half of them were fully formed. 'Looks like I'll have to practice more,' she thought. Fortunately for her the jutsu fulfilled its purpose. Her slippery opponent suddenly appeared jumping from a spot well within the technique's range, a bloody tear in his pants leg. 'Got you,' the Tsuchikage's granddaughter thought. Her hands formed a seal, but nothing visible happened. Daiki landed in the ground and sunk into it. His eyes widened in surprise. 'Checkmate,' thought the black-haired girl and her face twisted into a predatory smirk. Then she wavered a bit. This had cost her more chakra then she expected. She had to finish this manually then. It shouldn't be too much of a problem, her opponent was buried up to his waist in the ground and not going anywhere.
"Well, that's a bother," the Aoyume stated. 'Yes, it was a bother,' she agreed silently. She would finish it quickly. She reached into her pouch for a couple of kunai. "Aren't you tired?" the blue-gray clad boy asked. Yes, she was tired. She must have burned even more chakra than she had initially thought. She had to finish it soon. "I'm so tired as well," he added. Or maybe she could take a nap now and finish it later. 'Or maybe he's using his voice again,' she realized, but she was so tired she didn't care. But then her eyes caught sight of the Kage box where her grandfather was sitting. No, she couldn't lose here. Not in front of him. Not when her dimwit of a brother had already won. He would never let her hear the end of it. She summoned whatever willpower she still possessed.
"Kai," she said for what felt like thousandth time today and instantly felt better. She hauled her kunai at the Sand genin. That should shut him up. Despite being trapped, Daiki managed to avoid most of the projectiles and the others he deflected with a kunai of his own. Kurotsuchi ran at him top speed. With every step her fatigue was lessening. He stood no chance now.
The Suna ninja refused to accept that. He brought his hands together in a seal. The kunoichi threw another handful of kunai at him to prevent him from finishing whatever jutsu he was preparing. She wasn't fast enough. A sense of vertigo suddenly hit her and she stumbled. When she looked back up, she saw rows and files of bluish-clad genin in front of her. But which one was the real one? She raised her hands into a dispelling sign.
"It is hopeless," her opponent said. "You cannot break out of my illusions so easily." Her dispelling failed. It was bad. He had her ensnared and she couldn't… "It's just a matter of time before you'll admit defeat." And he was speaking again. 'Damn it, why would I despair? He is the one buried in the ground.'
"Kai," she shouted. This time it worked. Only one image remained in front of her. "And now I've got you," she smirked evilly. She closed the distance between them in a few steps and plunged a kunai into his chest. She encountered no resistance. 'Not the real one? How? Am I in a layered genjutsu?'
"So you see how futile your attempts are," the melodic voice of the Aoyume clan member once again pierced her consciousness and filled her with a sense of hopelessness. She knew it was his doing, but it was hard not to succumb. "You have nothing to counter my ability." Make that very hard. But there was something in her that refused to give up.
"No," she yelled and jumped to her feet. A sharp pain shot from her thigh. A kunai had sliced her skin. 'That's where my neck was a second before,' she realized, cold running along her spine. She glanced around. She could now clearly see her opponent, his hand still raised after the throw. 'If I hadn't jumped…' But she had and the pain had broken her out of the genjutsu. She wasted no more time. In one giant, adrenaline-aided leap she crossed the distance between them and kicked him, first to his stomach and then to his head. Hard. And then she kicked him again. He slumped to the ground unconscious. She kicked him once more for good measure.
The proctor appeared beside her. He examined Daiki to make sure he was really out of it. "Winner – Kurotsuchi," he announced. She sagged with relief. That fight had been draining, both physically and emotionally. She bowed to the audience, glancing at her grandfather to gauge his opinion of her fight, but the Tsuchikage's face was unreadable even for her. Well, she'll find out during the break. And she should check up on Akatsuchi as well.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Kage's booth~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"The Aoyume was in control of the fight until the end," the Kazekage said. He couldn't believe it. Out of the six Suna genin only one advanced. That was just unacceptable. At least this one had made a good show of it until he messed it up. He could already see his budget dwindling.
"That he was," the Hokage agreed. "If she hadn't moved when she did…"
'I'd probably killed him,' the Tsuchikage thought, 'consequences be damned.' His grandchildren were most precious to him in the whole world. Even more precious than power. They were the only ones who could boast that.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Spectator's stands~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Your team is out, Youkou-kun," a woman in an expensive kimono smirked. It looked strange on her white-painted face.
"It is so, Teono-chan," the man in tiger-like suit answered. "Their spirits shone brightly, but not enough. I will have to work with them long and hard to remedy it."
"Those poor dears," the geisha look-alike commented. "I don't understand how they put up with you."
"They know where they get the best training," he replied. "Not everybody can get by only on their looks."
"Do you think you can take on me?" she cooed.
"No," he said. Her flirtatious expression unnerved him. It never bode well for anybody.
"That's good," she nodded. The combs and needles in her elaborate hairdo jingled slightly. "I like men who know who is their better."
"If you excuse me now," Youkou said, "I'll go check on my students. Those poor dears need some cheering up, lest their spirits would dampen."
"I think I should go with you," Teono decided. "I have students to console as well. You aren't going to get rid of me so easily, Youkou-kun."
That's it for today.
Next time: begin the semifinals