Hmm… for the first time in a long while I really don't know what to write before starting a chapter. I must say that lately I found myself with my inspiration for "Naruto" stories dropping down. Not sure what cause it, but I know this: it's starting to get harder writing chapters (especially for my other, "Naruto" fics). Hopefully I'll manage to get through it, coz regardless to everything, from all my fics, this one is the least I'd like to drop. Having the whole story planned out, I'd get pretty annoyed if all of a sudden I'd get an author's block on it, that I wouldn't managed to get through.

SECOND CHARACTER POPULARITY CONTEST: I just wanted to remind everyone, who didn't voted yet, that they still have a chance to do so! The rules of the voting are written down in the previous chapter! Remember: every vote counts XD

Naturally I wanna thank everyone who reviewed the previous chapter and especially those that took part in the contest. It means a lot. Right now I have hopes for an ever bigger frequency then last time (though, I must admit I was hoping for a bigger variation of choices, coz as of now three characters get most of the votes).

And with all that said, I believe the only thing left for me to do is to invite you to read this newest chapter of "Naruto: Next Generation"! May the secret behind Honemaru be revealed:

Chapter #94: Sound of the Desert

Title Page: Tsume is playing 'fetch' with Uramaru

Tsume took a single step back as a sharp bone came out of Honemaru's palm with its tip pointed at the kunoichi. Seeing this Lee narrowed his eyes as a memory from years ago struck his mind: "This guy…" he thought, looking at the sand-nin. "He's just like the one I fought with Gaara…but wasn't he supposed to be the last of his clan?" and with that his eyes narrowed even more while the white-haired boy suddenly charged forward with his bone in his hand.

In a flash the dog gennin jumped back, barely avoiding her chest getting cut by her opponent's attack. Instantly she made the right set of hand seals and crawled down, resembling a predator, ready to attack its prey.

"Jujin Bushin!" Tsume cried out before lunging forward in the attempt to ram Honemaru, yet the sand-nin easily avoided that assault by gracefully strafing left. Immediately the dog kunoichi placed her hands on the floor and came to a stop, aiming a kick back into the boy, however also this time the white-haired gennin managed to dodge the attack by jumping up and placing his free hand on the girl's extended leg.

Honemaru then spun on his hand, aiming a kick into his opponent, making sharp bones grew out of his foot in the process. Before the assault reached its target however, Uramaru appeared, biting the sand-nin's leg in a place bones didn't stick out. Boy's eyes narrowed slightly as he stopped his kick and tried to shake the dog off, succeeding after a short while and making Tsume's partner hit the wall hard, making the girl call out the dog's name as she tossed her opponent away.

Honemaru simply somersaulted and landed safely on his feet, before turning to the kunoichi: "This is a real battle" he stated matter-of-factly with no trace of emotion on his face. "If you'll allow that pup to fight, it might get hurt. It's best to leave it out of this…"

"How the hell is that possible?" demanded Naruto, turning to Temari and Kankuro, using a short break in the match. "The last member of the Kaguya clan died long ago! You'd know, since Gaara was the one to kill him! So how come there's a guy standing right there, using Kaguya's bloodline limit?" he asked, pointing Honemaru.

"Back then, when Gaara fought that Kimimaro guy, he gave the report to the elders" Temari began with a little sadness in her voice. "Apparently one of elders figured that using bones as weapons is a great advantage and decided he'll give Suna a warrior like that. We do not know exactly how that was done, but most likely some of that sound-nin's DNA stuck on Gaara's sand after the fight and a special group of scientists manage to separate if from his sand. That DNA was used for a genetic experiment…"

"Wait, are you saying that white-haired guy… is a clone?" asked Kai, seriously disturbed.

"Not exactly" Kankuro replied with a serious face. "As there wasn't much DNA left on the sand, special measures had to be taken. The among of gathered genetic information was enough to create three warriors, yet each had to be… 'born' as a baby. That's why all the test subjects grew naturally. Honemaru's thirteen right now and preciously thirteen years ago the experiment was shut down. When Gaara found out about it, he and an ANBU squad, including us, put a stop to the tests. Sadly we were a little too late as three babies were already created…"

"And this Honemaru guy is one of them…" concluded Takaru as he narrowed his eyes, while settling them on the white-haired boy. To his surprise however, Temari went on: "Actually, all three are here today…" and as everyone drew their attention to her, she continued: "The experiment gave birth to three people, yet not all of theme were said to be successful. While Honemaru proven to be a perfect recreation of the Kaguya bloodline, the other two babies somehow… mutated. Their abilities remained connected to bones, but didn't turn quite as the scientists would want them to…"

"So… what exactly happened?" asked Ibuki hesitantly.

"Gaara decided that it'll be best to place all three in the same team" Kankuro responded with a sad tone. "That is why Honemaru was teamed up with Takai and Tarakudo…"

"So that's how it is!" announced Kumiko upon realization. "Back then, when that bandaged guy fought that swordsman, he could move anyway he desired, without breaking his bones! He must've possessed the ability to pull his bones from their joints! My father told me that something like that is possible!"

"You're pretty smart, missy" stated Temari, managing a smile. "But yes, that is Tarakudo's ability" she added calmly, however Kusari didn't allow the conversation to end there: "But then… what is that Takai guy's ability?" he as hesitantly, glancing over at the scythe user.

"It wouldn't be wise of us to give you away our teammate's abilities when his fight is still ahead, now would it?" Aoru responded with a question, drawing the chain master's attention. As the Leaf gennin glanced at her, she added: "Lets just say that when it comes to Takai… there's certainly no, other shinobi like him…"

"Well, regardless to this whole Takai guy…" Kokoro cut in, also narrowing his eyes. "That Honemaru fellow can form any part of his body into a weapon. Close-range combat goes for his advantage… which makes him an even harder opponent for Tsume, who's specialty is taijutsu…"

A sad expression crossed Hinata's face as she observed her subordinate kneeling near Uramaru, who was slowly struggling back to his feet, surprisingly enough with Honemaru allowing him to do so calmly. "Tsume…" the head of the Hyuuga whispered in her mind as a memory flashed before her eyes:

---One year ago---

"My name is Hyuuga Hinata and I was assigned to be your jounin instructor" the white-eyed woman announced as she stood before the five, rookie gennin. "Were forming team number four and will be spending a lot of time together, so I figure first order of business would be to know each other. I want you to tell me about your likes, dislikes, plans for the future… to share your dream with your comrades makes it easier for them to help you achieve it…"

"Ummm…" began the first girl shyly as she gazed at her feet and played with her fingers a bit. "My name is Igaku Mikka and I… well, I like… ummm… well, my dream is to become a skilled medic-nin, so that I'll be able to aid my friends in battle…"

Hinata smiled as an image of herself from years back flashed in her mind. Nodding to the girl, she announced out loud: "That's a respectful goal. Let us move forward then. Looks like you're next…" she stated, gazing at the masked boy, who sat next to the future medic.

"The name's Hatake Senkou" replied the boy simply with a little arrogance in his voice. "There's tons of things I don't like, but I do love this village and I'm ready to put all my strength in protecting it! That is why my dream is to claim the Hokage title after my father!"

"This one's interesting" the jounin smiled even wider as she turned to the next boy, this time the one with green hair. Upon catching the woman's glance, the boy spoke up with his hands before his mouth: "I'm Kobushi Galu… however I do not feel like talking about myself as I believe actions say more then words…"

"Fair enough" Hinata nodded to him as her eyes traveled to the last boy in the group. "It'd appear it's your turn…" and at that the blonde she spoke to stoo up, resembling a soldier giving his report to the superior: "Name: Benda Kokoro! I like people who can look outside the lines. As for things I hate it'd have to be lies and deception, although I do realize these come natural in a shinobi world. However I do believe that staying true to the people you care about is important. As for my dream, I think it is something one should achieve with his own strength and thus, although I appreciate the offer Hinata-sensei, I prefer to keep it to myself."

"Shino-kun, this boy reminds me of you so much" the head of the Hyuuga smiled again as she finally turned to the last member of her cell, a girl with a dog: "Looks like you're the last…" but before she could finish, the young kunoichi announced enthusiastically: "Inuzuka Tsume and this is my dog, Uramaru! I like parties, meat and animals! As for things I dislike, the top of my list will always belong to discipline and know-alls. And mu dream… is to save crimson wolves from extinction! To do that I'm ready to go through anything!" and with that statement her teammates stared at her shocked, while Hinata widen her smile: "Kiba-kun, this girl… who would've thought?"

---Flashback end---

"We're not fighting just for ourselves" announced Tsume as her eyes drilled through Honemaru, who stood before her without a change of his expression. In a flash the kunoichi gave her dog a soldier pill, making its fur bristle. "Lets go Uramaru!" she yelled, performing a quick set of hand seals. Instantly another leaf-nin replaced the pup, now making two Tsumes crawl before the white-haired boy, charging forward at the sand-nin at an incredible speed.

"Well, ain't that a twist" stated Tarakudo with a playful voice. "It'll be interesting to see how Honemaru's gonna resolve this, eh Takai?" he asked, turning to the scythe user, yet the other boy only glanced back at him for a split second, before returning to observing the fight.

As the two kunoichi came closer to the white-haired boy, the first began spinning widely, coming at the sand-nin as a small tornado. Instinctually Honemaru jumped to his right, avoiding the assault, yet this was exactly what the other Tsume waited for. Mimicking the first Leaf gennin, she began spinning and as she came at her opponent, who was still in mid-air, she called out from the bottom of her lungs: "Tsuuga!"

Honemaru's eyes widen slightly in surprise, yet besides that his face remained emotionless. In a flash another, sharp bone grew from his right palm and as it struck the floor, it broke the white-haired boy's flight. Upon coming to a stop, the sand-nin used his bone to flip, placing his body parallel to the ground, making the small tornado fly merely inches above him.

The first Tsume however took action immediately and coming to a sliding stop, she flew at the sand-nin again, once more spinning widely. Seeing this Honemaru separated his palm from the bone that was still stuck in the ground and rested his foot on its end, using it to jump over the incoming attack, somersaulting in the process.

As the tornado flew bellow him, Honemaru flipped again, landing safely on the ground, yet he didn't had the time to counterattack as he found himself strafing left again, making the kunai that the other Tsume tried to use to pierce through him miss be inches. In a fraction of a second, the white-haired boy brought his right hand and torso closer, trapping the kunoichi's hand that held the kunai in between.

Surprisingly enough, Tsume merely smirked and letting go of her kunai, she twisted her hand, grabbing her opponent by the shirt. As he threw her a little confused glance, she announced with a smirk: "Dodge this!" and instantly Honemaru's eyes traveled to the other dog gennin, who just came to a sliding stop and flew at him again, spinning even faster then before.

The white-haired boy made an attempt to move out of the way, yet Tsume's grip was firm and thus he found himself unable to move aside. His eyes widen, be it from shock or fear, and as the cutting hurricane came close enough, the dog kunoichi jumped away, yet Honemaru wasn't fast enough.

The small tornado rammed right into his chest, the impact throwing the sand-nin back and making him crush hard against the wall. Tsume smirked under her nose and as she gazed at her now motionless opponent, she announced: "I win…"

---direct hit!---

As so this chapter ends. Hope you enjoyed. Please leave a review once you're done, and those who didn't took part in the popularity contest yet, I'd like to encourage you to do so! This time around all the techniques are from the manga, so I'll just give you a translations:

Jujin Bushin (Man-Beast Clone)

Tsuuga (Piercing Fang)

Konoha #7: Murasakki Kumiko, Tanken Ibuki, Gekido Takaru, Hagane Kusari, Haisha Kai

Konoha #3: Konpaku Rei, Amagasa Toku, Debano Kitsune, Gusoku Hanamaru

Konoha #4: Inuzuka Tsume (in progress), Benda Kokoro, Kobushi Galu

Konoha:Hamano Taki, Hyuuga Hitomi, Manako Akira, Tanken Funbo, Horohoro

Suna #1: Aoru, Torune, Honemaru (in progress), 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

Tsuki:Junsei Teela, Tenka

Hane:Ono Reiji

Kumori: Kyuu

And this is really a conclusion of this chapter. I'll try my best to update the next one in a week time, so please be patient. Until next time, hopefully!