And I'm back again, once more to bring you the freshest chapter of "Naruto: Next Generation"! To be honest, taking everything that happened yesterday, I didn't thought I'll manage to finish this on time. Since yesterday's morning I have a terrible headache, which is basically just the tip of the mountain. Because of that some parts of this chapter were written when I was half-conscious and I didn't even got to double check it, so possibly there are more grammatical mistakes then usual (if that's even possible in my case ').
SOMETHING YOU MIGHT FIND IMPORTANT, SO PLEASE READ: As always I would like to thank everyone who reviewed! I could write that it means a lot, but you guys already know that, so in stead I was thinking about doing something different. Now, as I just came to realize, the two-year anniversary of this fic is coming with big steps (I can hardly believe that it's almost been two years already… now I kinda feel like Kishimoto-sama, who's been doing the manga for quite a bit of years) and I was wondering how should I celebrate it. I have one thing in mind for the time being (I don't suppose it's anything special, but maybe some of you will be interested in it), but I also got another idea (came up with it yesterday… guess headache makes my brain work better on the 'off-story' part :D): considering that the fact this fic lasted so long is also your merit (without readers and reviewers, it would have been dropped or something), I figured that the anniversary is something for you guys too and so I came up with an idea that would be my way of saying 'thank you for sticking around for so long'. This has been quite a long paragraph, so I'll just get to the chase: I was thinking to ask you what would you guys want me to do as a celebration of two years of N:NG! Well, I have my limits (like collage), so most likely some of the requests I won't be able to fulfill, however I'll try my best to complete those which I can. I have just one request: please don't ask me about making Takaru's background. I'll reveal it once the exams will be officially over (although I originally planned to do it much later) and putting it earlier might spoil several things that take place before that time.
And one, last thing before I'll begin the next chapter: I just wanted to inform you all, that I've decided to revive my other, next generation fic "Those Who Inherit the Will of Fire". Those of you, who once read it and would like to know what happens next might wanna know that I've just uploaded the newest chapter of that story. And those of you, who enjoyed this fic, might wanna give a try to that one as well.
Well, with that said, lets get down to the story:
Chapter #73: Fireworks
Title Page: Naruto and Hinata are standing on a rooftop and observe fireworks in the sky
"Toku!" Kogane only managed to yell as the huge, flame dragon came right at her teammate. The umbrella user however did not move. As the attack drew closer and closer, he merely held out his weapon, opened it and once the fire reached its tip, he suddenly began to spin it in his hand.
Nobu's eyes only widen in surprise as he saw his dragon starting to spin with the umbrella and not going beyond its tip. His eyes then remained widen, only this time more to fear then surprise, once the spinning flames suddenly switched directions and came right at him. The instant the moon-nin got hit by his own attack, he let out a loud yell of pain as he felt his skin burning all over.
Once the flames distinguished, he collapsed to the ground, completely unconscious. Toku merely closed his umbrella and placed it on his back again as Lee immediately checked Nobu's condition. While the medics rushed in to take the Tsuki boy for treatment, the Leaf's Green Beast glanced over to the other blonde and after a short moment, he announced loudly: "Winner: Amagasa Toku!"
"What the hell just happened?" demanded Kai, completely clueless. "At one second those flames were coming straight at him and in the other they just seemed to be blown away and hit the guy who performed the technique in the first place! How in the world is that even possible?!"
"The instant those flames came close, that umbrella guy collected most of his chakra in the tip of his Furikan" Akira began to explain, gaining the blonde's attention. "By spinning it, he created something that could be called a whirlpool of chakra that acted kinda like a magnet: it made the flames stick to it and circle along with it. As all the flames got collected by the whirlpool, this whole Toku simply pushed them away by blowing his chakra in the right direction… that's how that moon-nin's technique turned against him…"
"Wait, and something like that actually can turn a person's technique against himself?" asked Taki, looking at her teammate, but the one to answer her question was Horohoro: "It's not that unbelievable, when you think about, however being able to pull something like that off requires incredible, chakra control… to put it simply: that umbrella guy's ability isn't just limited to covering his weapon with chakra" and at this point his eyes narrowed as he settled them on Toku, who was now walking up the stairs, back to the platform: "And that makes him an opponent one must watch out for…"
"Great job, Toku!" Hanamaru cheered for his friend as the Furikan user arrived back. Kitsune only nodded and with his usual, calm and not carrying voice, he added: "Quite impressive indeed… you big show-off" and with that the blonde's eyes traveled to Rei, who was still sleeping and mumbled something about cherries under her nose.
Toku only sweat dropped at this and turning to his out teammates he merely said 'thanks' before getting back to prop himself against the wall and crossing his arms as he awaited the next match. Little did he not know was that at this point he was being closely observed by a certain, rain-nin.
"What do you think about this, Youji?" Tsuino asked his companion as his eyes stopped at the young, Konoha gennin. The blue-haired girl only analyzed the blonde for a moment and then replied suspiciously: "Well, it's a rarity for a shinobi from outside the Ame to be trained in using an umbrella, especially in the way he just did. I'd say he's not a typical, Leaf brat…" and as she said so, Ryo adjust his glasses as a tiny smirk crossed his face, yet he said nothing.
"So, Nobu lost too…" concluded Tasuki with a tiny smile on his face. "Damn, this feels weird. Tomorrow they're gonna feel that in…" but before he could finish, he caught Teela's cold glare. For the first time in a really long while he saw her actually showing any emotions. As a single drop of sweat began to run down his face, the blue-haired girl only said: "Tasuki… do not insult Nobu nor Kumo while I'm around…" and at that the boy could only give a nod as his mouth became completely dry.
With all the commotion, very few of the contestants gathered even realized that the next pair was already selected and that a huge, chubby waterfall-nin with a large hammer was already awaiting his adversary in the arena. Aisu merely narrowed her eyes as Yari jumped down for his match.
"Tetsu-san, do your best!" Shita yelled from the platform, while Kawa didn't really seemed to care at all. Lee only threw quick glanced at both participants and then, loud as usual, announced: "Eighteenth match: Sarumaru Yari from Yuki against Abura Tetsu from Bakufu! Ready and… BEGIN!"
In a flash the snow-nin charged straight at his opponent with his spear ready. As the distance between the two narrowed, Yari made an attempt to pierce right through the Bakufu shinobi, but to his surprise the large gennin easily managed to get out of the way. Unmoved by this, the spear user kept on pushing, trying to cut his adversary from almost every angle with several pierce attempts, yet every time the fat boy managed to avoid the attack.
Finally Tetsu jumped back, slowing down the battle, while Yari only narrowed his eyes upon him, breathing a little faster then usual. Meanwhile, up on the platform, Ibuki was completely shocked: "Wow, I've never thought that walking container of blubber will actually be able to move like that!" she announced, which earned her a death glare from Hanamaru, who stood nearby. The young assassin only gave out an apologizing smile, before returning to observe the match bellow.
Yari was already performing a quick set of hand seals, finishing it with a loud call: "Hyouton: Tsurara Hitoame!" and as he swung his spear, several icicles flew straight at Tetsu, making the waterfall-nin cover his face with his hands right before the ice blades cut his body.
"With such ease he managed to freeze the water in the atmosphere, just like his teammate did earlier" Naruto realized, looking at the spear user.
The Bakufu shinobi narrowed his eyes slightly at the feeling of his body being cut shallowly in several places, yet he didn't had time to rest. In a flash Yari charged forward, aiming to pierce right through the waterfall-nin. Seeing this, Tetsu brought his hammer down at the incoming Yuki shinobi, however the spear users managed to jump to his left, thus avoiding the attack and making his adversary's weapon hit the floor, making it crack slightly.
Instantly Yari located himself behind his opponent and aimed his weapon at his left shoulder in the attempt to cut the chubby boy in half, yet Tetsu managed lean to his right, making the snow-nin's blade hit the steel pipe on his back, thus blocking the assault. The Yuki shinobi didn't waste a second and immediately retreated his spear and dragged it parallel to the floor, aiming to cut the Bakufu gennin in half.
Acting on instinct, Tetsu jumped forward and spun in mid-air, thus making himself face his opponent again. As Yari's blade missing him, the snow-nin raised his weapon again in an attempt to cut him from above, yet the Bakufu gennin simply blocked the attack with the handle of his hammer.
Yari pushed harder, yet neither of the weapons gave in. The snow-nin narrowed his eyes as he looked at his adversary and with a stone-cold voice, he announced: "This is getting old. Sorry, but I'll be finishing this in a moment…"
"Funny" was the only thing Tetsu said. "I was about to say the same thing" and with that he suddenly went through a quick set of hand seals, using his left hand only. Yari's eyes only widen in surprise as the waterfall-nin's pipes suddenly raised from his back and landed on his shoulders, aimed right at him. "Ninpou: Hanabi Bakuha!"
In a flash something came out of the pipes and exploded right in Yari's face with a loud 'boom', sending the spear user flying back and making him land hard on the ground few meters away from Tetsu. Immediately Lee appeared next to the boy and making a quick check on him, he realized the Yuki gennin had his skin burnt in several places and marks of gunpowder here and there.
"Those pipes" he thought to himself as he glanced over at the waterfall-nin. "At that instant he filled them with chakra to initiate the blast. Not a typical, shinobi gear, but definitely provides a great hit power. Plus that hammer from just now…" and with that he raised his hand, pointing at the chubby gennin: "Winner: Abura Tetsu!"
"So basically that Waterfall guy is carrying cannons on his back and can make them fire by using his chakra" concluded Takaru as he settled his eyes on Tetsu, who was slowly getting back to the platform. "In actuality, that's pretty scary…"
"What are you thinking about, Takaru?" asked Kumiko with concern, gaining her teammate's attention. Instantly Kogane turned towards them as well and rubbing her arm against the boy's one, she added sweetly 'anything I can help you with, perhaps?'. The son of Tsunade only sweat dropped as he glanced at the blonde kunoichi and then turned to Kusari for help, however the chain master completely ignored it and walked over to the young genius, saying:
"You know, Kumiko-chan, I was thinking too…"
"Since when?" was the kunoichi's only response before she traveled with her gaze onto the screen once Lee announced that the next pair of contestants was about to be chosen. The names began zooming through, finally giving the result: HYUUGA HITOMI versus NADARE AISU.
"Hitomi-san, it's your turn!" yelled Taki loudly, wrapping her arm around the white-eyed girl. The young Hyuuga glanced over at Horohoro, who merely nodded at her and then she jumped down to the arena, where her opponent was already waiting for her.
"Well, since it's Hitomi, this should be fun" Funbo thought to himself with a smirk appearing on his face. Also Galu seemed to be interested in the next match as he narrowed his eyes while he observed the older girl: "She's one of the Hyuuga, gentle fist user. Most interesting…"
Hinata also narrowed her eyes, however as she did so, a sad expression crossed her face. Kokoro noticed that, but decided to keep quiet and in stead concentrated on the match that was about to begin.
"Tuff luck for you, girly" announced Aisu as she stood with her arms crossed. "I've got really annoyed with all this and I'm gonna break my team's losing streak…" but as she stated that, Hitomi only lowered her head and replied as calmly as ever: "Sorry, but that won't be happening… since I won't allow you to break my team's winning streak…"
With that said Lee only took a deep breath before calling out loud enough for everyone to hear: "Nineteenth match: Hyuuga Hitomi from Konoha against Nadare Aisu from Yuki! Ready and… BEGIN!"
---chosen by fate… what will become of Hitomi and Aisu?---
And that concludes this chapter. Hope you enjoyed it and please review. It'd mean a lot. Also, as usual I have the jutsu encyclopedia for you guys. And I am aware of the fact that I promised you descriptions for the techniques used last time, but with my headache I kinda felt like I can't do it. I very sorry. Next time I'll keep my word, but please forgive me this time. At the very least, I'll give you translation of the techniques used this time around, along with the updated list of gennin:
Hyouton: Tsurara Hitoame (Ice Element: Icicle Shower)
Ninpou: Hanabi Bakuha (Ninja Art: Fireworks Blast)
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, Eshaku Ryo, Furikuzu Tsuino, Hebereke Nazaa
Bakufu: Azarashi Kawa, Abura Tetsu, Makko Shita
Tsuki:Junsei Teela, Tenka, Kihako Tasuki
Hane:Ono Reiji, Sentou
Yuki: Nadare Aisu
Kumori: Kyuu
And that's that. Now before I go, I'm aware of the holidays that are coming closer. I'm not sure if I'll manage to finish the next chapter before them (though I'll try or at least update during it), so just in case I'd like to wish you all HAPPY EASTER and BIG EGGS!
Until next time and may the Rasengan be with you!