And once more it took me longer then usual to update. Sorry about that, but collage has really been a pain lately. On a more positive note I'm basically done with it for this semester (unless something really unexpected happens). Not completely, but at least to an extend that should allow me to return to my normal "one update per week" paste. Now I'm not promising yet, but I think the chances of that happening are pretty high.
Once more I wanna apologize for not replying to everyone's reviews for last time. I did cover some, but sadly a large number remained unanswered. I promise that with this chapter I'll return to replying them as I usually did. This one last time I'll answer your questions before the chapter… or more I'd answer, but to be honest there weren't any (or at least I missed those). Basically most of you, who commented the preview of the original first chapter, said they like it better with five-manned teams. I'm glad I've decided to go with five people in one cell as well, otherwise some of the characters that I myself like and whose development is crucial wouldn't appear (like Ibuki or Senkou, to name just those from the top of my head).
Also some of you tried to guess who'll fight who in those few matches that are still left in the eliminations. Well, with seven fights left (including Mikka vs. Aoru) I suppose the chances of successful guess are quite high. I hate being a spoiler (as you all probably know by now), but Cranky Wonder Joe's review gave me an idea of a little game we could play. The game itself won't have any effect on the story nor will there be any rewards (at least I can't think of anything), but if you want we can try playing, considering I'll be answering the reviews through replies again. Those of you how feel like they wanna try (or wanna know) can place their idea of a match-up of the last, six fights and in my reply I'll tell that person how many pairs he got right (meaning how many of the matches he/she predicted will take place). Now I won't say which of the pairs were guessed right (at least that's what I thought, but if you guys will be pushing I could tell you), only how many one guessed correctly. On that note I can tell Cranky Wonder Joe how many matches he got right, but considering I'm not sure if he wants to know now or prefers to find out by reading, I won't say a thing. If you guys think like playing, you can post your line-up in a review and tell me if you want me to tell you how many you guessed right or if you'd prefer for me to keep it to myself. But as I said: that's just an idea, which I thought some of you might be interested in.
With that said, lets get down to the next chapter of "Naruto: Next Generation":
Chapter #86: The Sand and the Leaf
Title Page: safari: Mikka is wrapping hyena's leg in a bandage, while Kai is sitting nearby on a crate with holes all over it and a sign 'lion' on one of the walls
Neji calmly took a sip of his tea and completely ignored the fact that a mysterious figure just appeared in the garden of his household. The white-eyed man simply placed his cup on the table and then gazed at the man with the white and black tiger mask, who was now slowly walking towards him. With an emotionless tone, the Hyuuga genius asked his guest: "Did something happened?"
"I'm afraid so" replied the man, taking off his mask and thus revealing himself to be Sasuke. The head of the Uchiha then glanced over to his left, where Tenten just suddenly appeared, wearing an orange kimono, decorated with black birds. The raven-haired man bowed slightly towards her, having her return the nod and then continued: "I'm terribly sorry, Tenten, but it'd appear your husband's help is required…"
The woman gave Neji a sad glance, making the Hyuuga genius also feel a little regret, but regardless he stood up and slowly walked over to his wife, kissing her on the forehead, as he announced: "I promise I'll return as soon as it'll be possible" and with that he grabbed his tiger mask. As he put it on, he turned towards Sasuke, saying: "Led the way" and so the two were gone.
Tenten merely stared at the place they stood just a moment ago and then lowered her head to look at the ground: "It's rare for us to have some time alone… and now with him gone, I'll just start worrying about Hitomi again. O wonder how's she doing… and what could've happened that disturbed Sasuke so much?"
---Back to the eliminations---
"Twenty fifth match: Igaku Mikka against Aoru! Ready and… EXPLODE!" and in a flash Lee moved out of the way as the sand-nin immediately charged forward, picking out her wavy blade. The young medic only managed to jump back, making the attack miss her by an inch at most.
The redhead didn't waste time however and instantly jumped into the air, somersaulting, and once she found herself behind Mikka, she gave the leaf-nin a powerful kick in the back of her head, thus sending her flying at the floor. Before she crushed against the ground though, the young medic used her hands to break the fall and used them to bounce of the floor, landing safely on her feet few meters away.
"She's fast" Mikka thought to herself as he gazed at Aoru, who just landed few meters before her. "When it comes to speed I don't think I can match her. Open battle is out of the question then" and with that she narrowed her eyes while she jumped into the air, throwing her leg up high. As she came down, the redhead jumped back, making the leaf-nin's drop kick smash against the floor, thus making it crack and lifting up few rocks from the ground.
"What the…?" began Aoru as she flew back. "What's with that insane strength?" but just as she thought that, Mikka spun on her foot and delivered a spin-kick into a stone right next to her, thus making it fly straight at the surprised sand-nin.
Acting on instinct, Aoru cut the incoming stone in half and curled herself, thus making one half of the rock flew above her and the other beneath. As the two stones crashed against the wall behind her, the redhead came to a sliding stop and flipped the hand she held her blade in, thus making her weapon open, revealing that it was actually a metal fan, formed from several, wavy blades, connected with each other.
"That girl's better then I thought… I guess I'll have to play a bit more seriously from now on" and with that Aoru smiled under her nose, making Mikka go into her fighting stance. Meanwhile, up on the platform, Tarakudo was delighted: "Nice! I like that tiny chick! She's got class!" and with that he began elbowing his teammate: "Don't you think so, Takai?" but the scythe user didn't reply. He just threw his bandaged companion a quick glare and then returned to observing the fight in silence.
"With such strength it is safe to assume that Leaf girl is a medic-nin" announced Honemaru calmly with no trace of emotions in his voice. "Surely this could prove problematic for Aoru. In actuality, she may really lose this fight…"
Suddenly Mikka charged forward, aiming a punch at Aoru's face. Acting on instinct, the redhead strafed left, yet immediately a spin kick from her opponent flew at her. Having on, other way to dodge, the sand-nin jumped up and rested her left hand upon the Leaf gennin's legs, thus breaking her flight.
As the two stopped for a split second, Aoru was the first to snap out of it and cut from Mikka's right, but the medic-nin managed to act in time and leaned back, thus making the steel fan cut only some of her hair. Before she could do anything else however, the redhead delivered a powerful kick into her stomach, thus forcing her to take few steps back, just to keep her balance.
Mikka pulled herself back together quickly however and instantly came at Aoru again, this time aiming a scissor kick at her head. The sand-nin dodged by jumping back, yet as the assault missed and hit the floor, once more rocks shoot from the ground and this time the Leaf gennin used this to her advantage.
While Aoru was still in mid-air, Mikka charged up one of the stones she pushed up and jumped straight at the surprised redhead with her fists ready. A little nervous, the sand-nin instantly picked out a kunai and threw it at the medic, yet the knife went right next to the Leaf shinobi's face.
As the distance between them decreased, Aoru performed a quick hand seal and to Mikka's surprise, the redhead's body suddenly got replaced by the same knife that just missed her. Her eyes widen slightly as her fist blasted the kunai away: "So that time she wasn't aiming at me in the first place! She was preparing herself to evade my attack!"
Meanwhile Aoru breathed a bit faster then usual as she observed Mikka landing safely on her feet few meters away from her: "Dammit, just now… she almost beat me! With that insane hit power if I allow her to lay even one attack on me, I'm done for! I need to resolve this and fast!" and with that thought she reached for her hostel.
"Damn, how come Mikka's that strong?" asked Kai, completely confused. "Even that metal-armed guy didn't seem close in strength to her!" and as he looked around, Galu decided to speak up: "In case you haven't realize it back when we run into each other in the forest, Mikka's a medic-nin. As such she has a perfect, chakra control, so transferring all of her inner energy into her hands isn't anything difficult to her. If one gathers large among of chakra in his fist, even one punch can prove deadly for the opponent. Mikka doesn't have any super-strength. Her punches are merely a result of chakra effecting one's hit power…"
"You sure seem to know a lot about that style of fighting, Galu" noticed Kumiko, yet the green-haired boy didn't response. He just threw her a quick glance and then returned to observing the fight. "Could this have something to do with that technique he wanted to use right before his match ended?"
This time Aoru was the first to act as she jumped at Mikka, spinning parallel to the floor. As she came close to the young medic, she threw a scissor kick at the Leaf kunoichi, thus forcing her to jump back. The instant her feet touched the ground, the redhead charged forward, using the fact that her opponent was only coming to the landing.
As she pushed her fan out front, Mikka suddenly smashed her fist to the floor, once more lifting up stones, which this time covered her from the attack, making the sand-nin's weapon sink into the rock. Aoru's eyes widen at this and then her surprise slowly turned into panic as she realized something else: "I… can't pull it out!"
In a flash Mikka appeared above her, aiming a drop kick at her head, thus forcing the sand-nin to jump back in order to avoid a certain knockout. The Leaf gennin's assault didn't end there however and soon the redhead found herself backing and dodging a storm of her opponent's attacks.
"I must say I like her style" announced Takaru with a smirk as he kept his eyes on the two kunoichi. He then gazed at Kai and smiled even wider, totally confusing the blonde. As the loud mouth asked the obvious 'what', Kitsune only shook her head at his behavior, while returning to observing the match bellow: "He's really clueless…"
However annoyed by the son of Tsunade's comment, Kogane instantly clanged to the scar-face's arm: "Takaru-kun, how could you say that? Do you wanna break my heart?" she asked sweetly, making Toku sweat drop at her behavior. Seeing this, also Kusari decided to take action: "Don't worry Kogane-chan, I still love you!" he announced, jumping towards her with an embrace, yet before the chain master reached his target, his face meet Kumiko's foot, who had a vein pulsing on her forehead: "Grow up, dammit!"
"This is better then circus" Tsume thought to herself with a pitiful smile as she observed her companions. Funbo only left out a single 'brats' comment and then his eyes stopped on Rei, who was still (A/N: pretty loud at that) asleep and followed Kitsune's example of shaking his head.
"Your subordinate seems to have the advantage now" noticed Naruto, turning towards Hinata, yet the white-eyed kunoichi was still worried. In that aspect she was no different from Hizoku, who also seemed to be troubled. Seeing this, Nezumi leaned over to her teammate and loud enough only for him to hear her, she asked: "Why are you so occupied with this match anyway? Could it be that you're thinking about what your father…?" but she never managed to finish that sentence as the redhead boy interrupted her as quiet as her: "Don't worry… regardless to that, I know where I belong. And even if I wanted too, there's no point to return to my father's dream…"
Upon dodging another punch, Aoru suddenly jumped up and placing her hand on Mikka's head, she flipped, delivering a powerful kick in the back of the leaf-nin's head, thus making her opponent take few steps forward and buying herself a little time.
As she landed on the ground, she instantly picked out a kunai and wrapping an explosive tag around, she threw it straight at the rocks few meters away. Meanwhile Mikka regained her balance and charged at the redhead at top speed, ready to resume the attack.
While the medic-nin was getting closer, the rock behind Aoru suddenly exploded and to most people surprise it blasted the steel fan stuck in it straight into the sand-nin's hand. Ibuki's eyes widen at the sight as she quickly analyzed what just happened: "That knife just now… she actually managed to throw it in a way it'd sink into the stone at an angle that would throw that fan thing right into her arm the instant the tag would explode! That a precision rare even among the Tanken and to be able to execute something like that in a real battle… that Sand girl's good!"
Running in top speed, Mikka was not fast enough to react as the fan landed in Aoru's hand. Kokoro only managed to call out his teammate's name before the redhead performed a quick motion. Hinata froze, seeing what happened next.
Aoru's weapon cut Mikka's chest, making the leaf-nin's blood spray the floor of the arena. In the next moment the young medic-nin felt to her back motionless.
---the most terrifying conclusion… what will become of Mikka?---
And this concludes this chapter. I hope you enjoyed it and that you'll leave me a review once you're done. It'd mean a lot and show me that you're still reading this fic, even though the update paste slowed down lately.
No jutsu this time, however I did promise descriptions to the technique used last time, considering I wasn't able to do them then. So, here it is:
Suiton: Mizu Gosunkugi no Jutsu (Water Element: Water Spike Skill) – technique used by Kawa. In a way one might say it's similar to Haku's Flying Water Needles, only in this case it doesn't involve a bloodline and in stead of tens, small spikes, it creates one, big one (A/N: ain't that a cool line :D). The spike, although made of water, is strengthened by chakra and thus it can really pierce through its target, considering it'll manage to hit it.
Suiton: Wanizame Batsu (Water Element: Shark Attack) – another technique used by Kawa. This time it can be compared to Zabuza's Water Dragon, except that in stead of a dragon, water shapes itself into a shark. Both this and the jutsu above cannot be performed without a nearby water source (unless one is a skilled shinobi and create enough water on his own, like Kisame is capable of doing).
Suiton: Mizu Bakuha no Jutsu (Water Element: Water Blast Skill) – technique used by Taki. The performer must first collect enough chakra into his or hers mouth and then, using the correct hand seals, release it in the form of water, which starts to circle the moment it gets lose, thus creating a powerful whirlpool. It's effect could be compared to a large wave.
And now, before I finish, once more the list of gennin 'still in the game'. On a side note I guess I can warn you that the next popularity contest is drawing nearer. Considering how long eliminations took, I figured some of you might wanna go through them again to pick their favorites (assuming you'll be interested in taking part in the voting). Anyways, here's the updated list of the eliminations participants:
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 (in progress), Inuzuka Tsume, Benda Kokoro, Kobushi Galu
Konoha: Hamano Taki, Hyuuga Hitomi, Manako Akira, Tanken Funbo, Horohoro
Suna #1: Aoru (in progress), 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: Furikuzu Tsuino, Hebereke Nazaa
Bakufu: Abura Tetsu, Makko Shita
Tsuki: Junsei Teela, Tenka
Hane: Ono Reiji
Kumori: Kyuu
And that really concludes this chapter. Thanks for 'tuning in'. Hope you enjoyed it and until next time, hopefully!