Yup, it's me again. This time I'll make this short: thanks to everyone who reviewed the previous chapter. It really means a lot. I hope I've replied everyone via e-mail, but if I missed anyone, then sorry… it's just that a lot of things are on my head right now, including a very unpleasant, family situation, and lately I've just been walking like I was half asleep.
Now, as before, I WON'T UPDATE UNLESS I GET REVIEWS, however I should also warn you that the next chapter might take longer then usual and that's mostly because my grandma's condition has gotten REALLY bad… basically nothing can be done anymore and… well, I guess you can figure the rest.
And now, without further to do, here's another chapter of my "Naruto: Next Generation":
Chapter #62: Desert Wind
Title Page: Temari is propping her right hand on Shikamaru's shoulder while she holds her opened fan in her other hand
"Katon: Kasai Tsunami no Jutsu!" Rei called out as a large among of fire escaped her mouth and formed itself into a huge tidal wave. At the same time Teela let out a yell: "Suiton: Mizu Hebi no Jutsu!" and water burst out from between her lips, taking a shape of a powerful snake with long and sharp teeth.
As the two attacks collide, tons of steam covered the whole arena, making it impossible to see a thing. After a short moment the air cleared slightly and all the spectators saw both kunoichi standing in the same place they did before executing their technique, each glaring at their opponent. Rei breathed heavily as she narrowed her eyes slightly. Teela kept an emotionless expression on her face, yet she had her eyes narrowed as well.
"Didn't thought you'll manage to counter that attack…" announced Rei calmly as she let out a sigh. "You're a really tiresome opponent… sorry Hishu… Hiashi… Naraku… you did good, but I'm afraid this is my limit…" and after a short pause, she added: "I give up…"
As the lazy girl's word reached the platform, Kai's grip on the rail tightened: "What? Why the hell is she giving up all of a sudden? She had that Moon girl cornered!" but Kitsune only shook his head in disagreement: "Soul integration requires great among of chakra to both perform and maintain… I suppose she used most of it by now and she just doesn't have any strength left… to skip the fact that this blue-haired girl seemed to be unaffected by any of her previous attacks… dragging this any longer would most certainly be pointless…"
"To skip the fact that her motivation leaves a lot to wish for…" Shikamaru added in his head as he let out a sigh. But as the lazy jounin lowered his head while shaking it, Rei spoke up again, drawing Teela's attention, who was already heading back towards the platform: "However I promise you this: the next time we'll meet, I'll be much stronger…" and at this point even the moon-nin couldn't help but smile as she nodded slightly.
"I'll hold you to it…" Teela responded before jumping onto the platform. Lee only glanced after the Tsuki kunoichi before he announced loudly: "Winner: Junsei Teela!" and then he looked at Rei, who was slowly walking up the stairs: "But this girl… even with the soul integration it's pretty surprising she managed to mimic the Hyuuga movement with such precision… with a little training, she could surpass even Tsunade herself!" and then he once more raised his voice: "Lets move on to another elimination match!" and again the names began to appear and disappear on the screen.
"So Teela won in the end…" Kusari concluded in his head with a worried expression showing on his face. He lowered his sight slightly, thus attracting Kumiko's attention: "Is something wrong?" she asked her teammate, yet the chain user didn't say a word.
"Nice fight…" stated Senkou, glancing at Rei the moment she reached the platform. The lazy girl only threw him a quick look and with a short 'thanks' she settled under the wall and went back to sleep. "You could at least pretend that you care about anything!" yelled Kogane at her teammate's behavior, but calmed down after a short moment and with a sigh, she said to no-one in particular: "Why do I even try?" and then her sight trailed back towards the screen, where the new pair of contestants was already chosen: NAGINATA versus TORUNE.
"Finally, how long can you wait?" announced Torune with a relief as she jumped over the rail and landed right next to Lee. Takai only glanced after his teammate and then narrowed his eyes slightly with his face still emotionless and his arms crossed.
"Hey, look, Torune's next…" noticed Karame with a smirk appearing behind his bandages. "This may be fun…" he added. Sabure didn't reply. She merely glanced at Takai for a split second and then turned back to observing the Sand kunoichi that was about to fight. Dekai only let out a sigh at his companions behavior, yet said nothing.
"It's another of those sand-nins from before the exams…" Horohoro thought to himself as his eyes narrowed while they set on Torune. Taki noticed that, but she just stopped on glancing at her teammate and then watched as the blonde Suna shinobi made her way towards the center of the ring bellow, where Lee stood.
"Took them long enough to choose me…" whined Naginata as she headed towards the stairs, but she got stopped by Sentou, who placed his metal arm on her shoulder: "That blonde is the teammate of that weird guy who defeated Futatsu… You should watch out…"
"You don't really think I'll lose to some small fry, do you?" the redhead shoot back before continuing walking. Reiji just glanced behind her and shook his head before turning back to observing the arena, where the next fight was about to begin.
Shikamaru exchanged glances with Temari as the two kunoichi stood at the center of the ring, waiting for Lee to start the fight. Toku noticed that, but decided to say nothing. "Tenth match: Torune from Suna against Naginata from Kane!" announced the Green Beast loudly. "Ready and… BEGIN!"
Immediately Naginata jumped forward, picking out her staff. Before she knew it, Torune was forced to retreat while blocking the metal-nin's furious attacks with the metal protectors she had on her hands. Suddenly the redhead girl bended her knees slightly and attacked the blonde's legs in the attempt to swipe her opponent of her feet.
Acting on instinct, Torune jumped up and flipping in mid-air, she located her body in the way her legs were above her head. In a flash she grabbed Naginata's weapon with her hand and launched a kick into her opponent's face, but to her great surprise, the metal-nin managed to block that assault by suddenly separating her staff into two parts and placing the part the Suna shinobi wasn't holding in the blonde leg's way.
As Torune froze for a split second in mid-air, Naginata threw her hands to her sides, thus pushing the blonde away. The sand-nin once more flipped and managed to land safely on the ground, but it was then that she noticed the redhead was charging at her again, this time with two sticks in her hands.
Aoru narrowed her eyes as she observed the fight from the platform. She didn't even paid any attention to Tarakudo, kept on emitting strange sounds, showing that he was enjoying the match bellow, nor to Takai, who stood with his arms still crossed and not even bothering to watch the battle. The redhead girl glanced to her left, where Honemaru stood. The white-haired boy also threw her a look, but his face shown no emotions, as always: "They'll never change…its actually pretty scary, especially considering who they are…at times like this I wonder if Kazekage-sama made the right decision…"
Meanwhile Naginata reached Torune and brought the stick she held in her right hand down, aiming to hit the top of her opponent's head. In a flash the sand-nin jumped back, thus avoiding the attack and making the stick hit the floor where she just stood a moment ago. Without wasting a second the redhead swung her other stick at the blonde, but the Suna kunoichi managed to block the assault with her hand by using the metal protector on it.
Before Naginata could react to that, Torune grabbed her by the shirt and tossed the redhead over her shoulder. As the metal-nin flew towards the other end of the ring, the blonde performed a quick set of hand seals and suddenly a powerful wind began blowing beneath her feet.
In a fraction of a second Torune got blown several feet into the air and picked out a scroll in the process. As she was spinning wildlydue to the tornado that shoot her to the air, she bite her finger and draw a quick symbol on the scroll she just unwrapped. Meanwhile, down bellow, Naginata flipped in mid-air and landed safely on her feet.
"A wind user…" Ibuki realized as her eyes narrowed while following the blonde kunoichi. She then took a quick glance Funbo, who surprisingly smirked under his nose. The older Tanken noticed his sister stare and widen his smirk even more. The weapon mistress didn't needed anything else. She knew perfectly what her sibling was thinking. And this one time, she had to agree with him.
With rage in her eyes, Naginata looked around in order to spot her adversary, but Torune was nowhere in sight. It was then that she noticed a shadow falling on the floor from above and as she looked up, she saw the blonde kunoichi drawing the last line on her scroll, thus finishing whatever it was she was planning.
As the word on the scroll was complete, Torune went through a quick set of hand seals and with the last symbol she called out: "Fuuton: Kamaitachi no Jutsu!" and in a flash a powerful tornado flew right from the scroll she still held in her hand, right at the surprised metal-nin.
"Kamaitachi?" Lee's eyes widen as he recalled the name of the technique. "But isn't that Temari-san's skill? And wasn't it impossible to perform without that huge fan of hers?" and as he thought that the tornado hit the surprised Naginata, lifting her into the air and cutting her skin in several places, making the redhead girl cry out in pain.
A second later the Kane kunoichi felt to the floor, tornado that hit her already gone. As she hit the ground, Lee immediately appeared next to her. The green Beast realized that the girl was unconscious and still a little surprised, he stood up and glancing at the blonde he announced: "Winner: Torune from Suna!"
"Look at that, she actually won…" stated Horamaru with a wicked smile as he licked his lips. Hari only shook her head slightly before announcing: "You're sounding almost like you believed that there was any chance for Torune to lose…"
"Well…" began Horamaru with a big smirk as he observed Torune, who already headed towards her teammates. "It would've been so much more interesting if she did… wouldn't it?" and with that he turned towards the puppeteer, once more licking his lips.
"You're really disgusting…" announced Hari, slightly annoyed, before she looked away from her companion. Tsuino only narrowed his eyes as he took a quick look at the blonde girl, then turned towards Torune, only to finish his sight tour on Naginata, who was already being taken away by the medics: "This battle didn't even seem to cost her a thing, though this whole time she was on the defensive… those sand-nins are strong…"
"And just when I started to like that stick girl…" whined Funbo with a smirk. Hitomi only glanced at her teammate and with a little irritated voice, she responded: "Considering she's using the same weapon you are, I'm sure you two would be happy together…"
"Before your flame of youth will distinguish, lets move on to another match!" purposed Lee and once again everyone's eyes turned towards the screen. In just a blink of an eye the names stopped changing and the next pair of contestants was revealed: WANABI HIZOKU versus YAMAZARU.
"Wanabi?" Naruto's eyes widen at the name that appeared on the screen. He instantly glanced at Kakashi, who also seemed to realize the same thing he did, yet the Rokudaime didn't allow himself to show his surprise. "So, after twenty years fate decided to play a joke on Konoha, eh?" the blonde thought to himself as he glanced over towards the grass-nins. "It's amazing how things can turn the way they do…"
As the choice was made, Taka only smirked behind his mask before elbowing his teammate. The redhead only glanced at him and immediately he realized what his companion was thinking. He let out a sigh and then felt a hand landing on his right shoulder. As he turned his head in that direction, he saw Tobane smiling warmly to him: "Do your best, Hizoku-kun…"
"Yeah, keep in mind that if you still wish to do what you came here for, you need to advance to the final…" Tokame reminded him calmly with no emotions heard in his voice. Hizoku only nodded at the two and then jumped down onto the arena. "It's him…" was Takaru's only thought as he glanced at the redhead grass-nin.
"Well, this should be entertaining…" stated Aisu with a smirk as she looked over her shoulder at her huge teammate. Yamazaru just roared loudly, showing that he couldn't wait to begin the fight. Yari only gave his companion a worried glance as a single drop of sweat run down his face. "He completely lost control over himself…" the spearman realized in his head. "This is bad… right now even talking to him is dangerous… I don't know who that grass-nin is, but one thing's for sure: he'll get crushed!"
Kokoro's eyes widen as he took a quick glance at the huge snow-nin. He felt a single drop of sweat running down his face as his body trembled slightly. Mikka, who stood right next to him, noticed that and with a quiet: "What's wrong, Kokoro-kun?" she hoped to gain her teammate's attention, yet the blonde seemed to completely ignored her question.
In an instant Yamazaru jumped down onto the arena and landed safely on his feet, bending his knees slightly. Galu's eyes narrowed as he saw the floor crack around the helmet-wearing gennin after the snow-nin's landing. And then, without even waiting for the starting signal, the Yuki shinobi charged straight at Hizoku, aiming his mace at the grass-nin's head.
---the one guided by rage furiously attacks… what will become of Hizoku?---
And this concludes this chapter. Hope you enjoyed it and that you'll leave me a review once you're done.
SPECIAL NOTE TO SAVE ME FROM BEING CRUCIFIX: okay, considering the reviews for last time, I could tell most of you would prefer for Rei to win the match in stead of Teela. In my defense I can only say that the result was planned since the beginning AND such an outcome was important to the story (especially for Rei herself). Sorry guys.
There was only one technique used in this chapter, which you all should know (and yes, I know it should be "Ninpou: Kamaitachi…"), so I'll just give you a translation:
Fuuton: Kamaitachi no Jutsu (Wind Element: Slashing Wind Skill)
And now once more a list of the gennin that are still in the game… notice Rei's name written in italics. That means she lost, but remained in the room to watch (well, in her case 'watch' may not be the right word) the rest of the matches:
Konoha #7: Murasakki Kumiko, Tanken Ibuki, Gekido Takaru, Hagane Kusari, Haisha Kai
Konoha #3: Konpaku Rei, Rikoteki Kogane, Amagasa Toku, Debano Kitsune, Gusoku Hanamaru
Konoha #4: Igaku Mikka, Inuzuka Tsume, Benda Kokoro, Hatake Senkou, Kobushi Galu
Konoha: Hamano Taki, Hyuuga Hitomi, Manako Akira, Tanken Funbo, Horohoro
Suna #1: Aoru, Torune, Honemaru, Tarakudo, Takai
Suna #2: Sabaku no Sabure, Hari, Dekai, Horamaru, Karame
Kusa: Hokku Tobane, Kanraku Nezumi, Kuchibashi Taka, Kyohaku Tokame, Wanabi Hizoku
Ame: Kasano Youji, Nokogiri Karei, Eshaku Ryo, Furikuzu Tsuino, Hebereke Nazaa
Bakufu: Azarashi Kawa, Tora Miaka, Abura Tetsu, Makko Shita
Tsuki:Junsei Teela, Tenka, Chishio Nobu, Kihako Tasuki
Hane: Ono Reiji, Sentou
Yuki: Nadare Aisu, Sarumaru Yari, Urufu Kato, Yamazaru
Kumori: Kyuu
And this is really it. Hope you enjoyed it and that you'll leave me a review.
Also I'd like to wish everyone MERRY CHRISTMAS and a HAPPY NEW YEAR! I don't know if I'll manage to finish the next chapter this year, so I hope you'll all have happy holidays in case I won't be able to update before the 1st of January!
Take care and jingle bells to you all!