EDIT: and fixed chapters keep on coming
The fourth chapter is finally done. Sorry it took my so long, but I've been extremly busy lately and that probably won't change soon.
Still I'll try to submit at least one chapter a week.
Anyhow, hope you'll like this one. I would really appreciate any reviews, because I really want to know what you think.
Also, I would like to give a very special thanks to: BlueKanji, Hells-fox, DragoonVBK and Kakashiclone1120 as well as Draconous, Mastercrappy and Maggiemaggie. Thank you for your support. It really means a lot to me.
And now, without further delays:
Chapter #4: Gennin Exam – part III
Hokage Blood
Chapter Cover: Takaru's holding shuriken and kunai in his hands and mouth
"Guess there's no helping it" announced Takaru with a smirk as he readied himself. "I'll just have to take the bells in a classical way…"
"Aren't you a confident one" responded Naruto, returning the smile. "Fine, let's see what you're made of…"
-That time, elsewhere in the forest-
Ibuki tried her best to free herself, but no matter how hard she tried to bend over, the kunai wouldn't go out of the tree: "Dammit!" she thought to herself annoyed. "At this rate, I'll never get those bells…"
Then she remembered something and with the top of her fingers, she reached the sleeve of her jacket. From there she pulled out a senbon in hope to use it for freeing herself.
-Same time, the starting spot of the exam-
Kai was still sitting on the ground looking at the direction Naruto went.
"By just sitting there you won't get the bells" he heard Kusari's voice.
"Yeah well, it's not like I can defeat him with my taijutsu" responded the blond matter-of-factly. '" have to think of another way. Besides, you shouldn't lecture, since you didn't even make an attend to get the bells yourself…"
"True, I haven't" nodded the other boy. "But in the forest my attacks would be useless. At this point, it's better if I wait here for Naruto-sensei to return. More over, I can get one bell for you…"
"I'll get the bell with my own skills" interrupted Kai, drilling him with his gaze. "You should worry about yourself now" and none of them said anything more.
-Back to the stand-off-
"Where Naruto-sensei could disappeared to?" thought Kumiko, while running through the forest. Suddenly she saw the jounin and Takaru standing if front of each other. She instantly stopped and hid behind a nearby tree.
"Those two…" she began, narrowing her eyes.
Naruto and the scar-faced boy kept eyeing each other for a few, more moments. Finally the preteen decided to make the first move and in a fraction of a second, he pulled out shuriken from his holster, throwing them at the blond.
Naruto however, in stead of dodging them, used his hands to catch them all.
"Glad you did that" announced Takaru, his smirk returning. "With shuriken in your hands, you can't perform seals" and with those words, he started to execute seals himself.
"What the…" thought Naruto, widening his eyes. "At his age, he's able to perform that attack?"
"Insei Tooriame" yelled Takaru and with those words chakra surrounding both his hands turned into flames, just to send tens of small fireballs towards the Kyuubi vessel.
"Didn't expected that" admitted the blond, dropping the shuriken to the ground. When the fireballs reached their target, they explode and a big cloud of dust went up, covering the whole area. After a few seconds, the air was clear again, but Naruto was nowhere in sight.
In a place the man was standing right before the explosion, Takaru found just some wooden pale smashed into pieces.
"Kawamiri no Jutsu" announced the jounin. "Simple, but this trick will never get old. I gotta hand it to you: I've never thought that at your age you'd be able to use such a technique. After all, not even your mother was able to master it till she became eighteen…"
"And what do you know about my mother?"
"More then you think" answered Naruto simply. "After all, she was one of the greatest shinobi this village produced. Though, as far as I know, her last name wasn't Gekido. So why have you changed it?"
"I don't think this is any of your business" responded Takaru, barely hiding his anger mixed with annoyance. "The important thing is that I'll get those stupid bells of yours" and with those words, he threw more shuriken in the bushes.
Less then a second after the shuriken left the boy's hand, the Kyuubi vessel jumped out of the bushes in order to dodge that attack. While he was still in midair, the scar-faced preteen jump towards him and attacked with his right leg.
Naruto grabbed Takaru's leg before it could reach him with his left hand, but before he could do anything else, he noticed the gennin-to-be's right fist coming straight at his face from above. This time, the blond blocked the attack using his right hand.
Before the two of them touched the ground, Takaru attacked the man's stomach with his left hand. Having no hands to block, the whisker-marks used his right knee to stop the attack. It worked.
As soon as they both landed on the ground, the boy picked out more shuriken from his holster and threw them at his adversary. This time, it was a direct hit.
"Got him" thought Takaru, but before he even putted a smile on his face, Naruto's body changed into another wooden pale. "Crap, another Kawamiri!"
"Not bad" he heard a familiar voice behind him. "But seems that our little battle ends here" and with that he felt that two fingers were stabbed in the back of his neck. Takaru felt inertly on the ground.
"The tops of my fingers were filled with chakra" explained Naruto calmly, gazing at his fallen student. "I've just blocked the way that impulses from your brain traveled to the rest of your body, thus for a little while you won't be able to move your body from the neck to your feet. A little trick that I've learned from your mother…"
"Dammit!" cursed Takaru.
"Everyone needs training" announced the jounin, still staring at the boy. "Just because you're the son of a great shinobi doesn't make you one. Though I guess it must be hard… being the son of Tsunade…"
"What?" thought Kumiko with shock in her eyes. "Takaru is…"
"Coz its tough!" responded the scar-faced preteen. "She was one of the greatest shinobi of this village! How do you think I feel living in a shadow of her? I thought that when I'll get the bell, I'll be one step close to surpassing her, but it seems that I'm not even good enough to defeat you!"
"First of all..." began Naruto with a sweat drop. "Could you, please, stop saying something like that in a way that makes me feel like some sort of a weakling? And second: yes, your mother was a great shinobi, but not because of her strength. The true reason she was so respected is the fact, that as a Hokage of Konoha, she cared about every ninja of the Leaf. To save her comrades, she was ready to sacrifice her own life. By looking how you act, I have serious doubts if you're her son…"
"She was ready to sacrifice her life for other villagers, eh?" responded Takaru with a victorious smirk. "Then how come, she didn't even moved a finger, to help me?"
"I don't know how were your relations with your mother" admitted the Kyuubi vessel calmly. "But I'll tell you this: above Dan, or even Nawaki... you're the person she treasured the most…"
Takaru just stared at him (at least as much as the blockade allowed him to), so Naruto continued: "When I came to visit her, all she talked about was you. Moreover, it was her, who saved you that night… It was late when I heard about the attack on the Hokage mansion. Me and other jounin searched the whole village, but couldn't find any trace of the assassins, nor you and your mother. After few hours, the search was dropped. It was then that I've heard that both you and your mother were found right before Konoha hospital's door. Sakura-chan examined both of you. As it turned out, except the wound on your left eye, you were fine. That was rather surprising, since according to Sakura, such wound could even be fatal. Tsunade-sama on the other hand died because she released all of her chakra. Do you understand now?"
"She…" Takaru hesitated for a moment, his eyes widen. "She used the last of her chakra, to heal my wound…"
"It's impossible for her to not notice that releasing more chakra would be deadly for her. Also, as a medic, she must've known that your wound was fatal. That's the real reason why she was so strong. Strength has many forms, but being able to sacrifice your own life for someone precious to you… I believe that that's the biggest strength in the world…"
"The paralyze will fade before the exam is over" announced Naruto, while walking away. "Think about what I've said. In your current state, you won't have anything better to do anyway…" and so the jounin walked deeper in the forest.
After a longer while, the blond heard strange noise coming from the bushes surrounding him. He turned around and saw a large, white tiger, prepared for the attack.
-a new danger-
Please don't hurt me for endind the chapter in such a moment. I'll try to update as soon as possible.
Hope you've liked it. Love to hear what you think.
As for now, best wishes and hope to see you when fifth chapter will be released.