Finally I've managed to finish this… took me longer then I'd want, but at least it's done… and personally, I'm quite pleased with how this chapter turned out which is more or less a rarity, especially as of late, so…
To answer some of the doubts from reviews: I believe stating whether the final exam will be done in full or get interrupted will be a huge spoiler, so I'd prefer to keep that a secret, but I must say that the tournament is going rather smoothly and faster then I expected, already being on fight #4. Kai vs. Takai, which was undoubtfully the longest skirmish in the bunch is already over and the other fights will be shorter by comparison. That is why I prefer to keep the chapters in the length they are now: for one it puts less strain on me to keep up with the deadlines (although at times I do screw up… I am only human) and secondly, a completely personal reason is that all the chapters up till now (excluding 29 if I recall correctly, the one to present all gennin) were of similar length, which kinda helps me get the feel that is a manga without pictures… and that pretty much keeps me more motivated to go on with it… that and reviews naturally.
As some of you may know, I also updated NNG Side Stories with an inside on Rei this time around. So far I only gotten one request for that fic and I'll be trying to fulfill it, most likely by placing a short arc concerning team 4, like I intended to from the beginning… it's just that writing N:NG and a mission arc for the same characters simultaneously may prove a bit more draining and thus the update on Side Stories may take longer. Naturally, requests are still accepted.
Another thing is that I generally will be trying to bring 'next generation' to life and that means I've began work on the next chapter of "Those Who Inherit the Will of Fire", should any of you be interested… that and I've also began working on ANOTHER fic… I know… but that's just my head and too many ideas for a minute x_x
I believe that generally covers it. Thanks for reviewing and tuning in. Hope you'll leave a comment after reading this one as well, coz it'd help keep me motivated and assure me this fic is still popular enough to continue it.
Chapter #128: Takaru versus Honemaru
Title Page: Kai dressed in a Hokage robe, while a little in the back Kakashi is standing with his nose in another "Icha Icha" book
"Welcome back, Gaara-dono" Genmei said in a calm voice as a whirlpool of sand engulfed the seat next to Kakashi, soon releasing the young Kazekage from within. The redhead merely glanced at him for a split second, before turning his gaze away, noting that the Hidden Rain leader didn't even bother to look at him: "I trust your business is taken care off… especially since you've already missed two matches…"
"I'm apologize for my absence… the matter was rather pressing… what have I missed?"
"Well, both Taki and my own village lost their only representatives" Kane leader responded as emotionless as one can only be. "I must admit I was a bit stunned that Reiji fallen so quickly, but what's done is done. I do not approve your approach however, Gaara-san. You won't be vanishing on us again, will you?"
"I do not intend to do so" was the redhead's stoic reply.
"Good, coz one of your own shinobi is about to fight and he's quite a pretty boy" Satsuki cut in with a flirtatious smile, glancing at the young Wind Shadow. Gaara didn't respond and merely narrowed his eyes at they settled on Honemaru. Meanwhile, among the crowds, Saiken also narrowed his as he leaned against the wall with his arms crossed: "Seems that I made it just in time… it's that brat Tategamaru-sensei mentioned…"
"BEGIN!" Lee announced, instantly moving out of the way as Honemaru charged forward, ripping a long, sharp bone from his palm. In a flash he beat the distance between himself and Takaru, swinging horizontally at the leaf-nin's torso. The scar-faced boy however acted immediately and jumping over the assault, he somersaulted, quickly forming seals as his back covered him from his white-haired adversary.
Upon landing he already had a kunai in his grip and spinning on his foot, he blocked the bone that went from his head, trapping the sand-nin in a deadlock. Honemaru's face remains calm as he pressed against the tiny knife, but still his eyes narrowed in surprise as the son of Tsunade smirked towards him.
Instantly Takaru thrust his left hand forward, already wrapped in flames, as he released the technique from point-blank range: "Insei Tooriame!" he called out, making a barrage of small fireballs blast from the tips of his fingers.
Quickly Honemaru flipped back a few times as the meteors came at him. Some exploded upon contact with the ground, yet more managed to reach their target, leaving burnt skin in the place of impact. As another one hit the white-haired boy in the left shoulder, he lost his balance in mid-flip, ungracefully landing on the floor, flat.
Takaru was not about to let him rest as he jumped to the air, a new chain of seals already in motion: "Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu!" he proclaimed, releasing a powerful breath of fire, dropping right at the fallen sand-nin.
In a fraction of a second Honemaru rolled out of the way and as his back pressed against the ground, he thrust his hands backward, flipping back to his feet. The next moment ribs shoot from his chest, coming straight at Takaru with a whistle as the scar-faced boy was about to land himself. Unable to dodge, the leaf-nin formed few more seals, throwing his hands to the ground.
"Katon: Kasai Taihou!" he yelled as thick pillar of flames erupted from his palms, hitting the floor (A/N: Kamehameha anyone? XD). The impact send the son of Tsunade to the sky, riding the wave, while the incoming bones dug into the ground in the very spot he would land a moment ago.
Avoiding the assault, Takaru flipped in mid-air, this time landing safely on his feet. Honemaru however was already behind him, swinging his bone horizontally and thus forcing the leaf-nin to duck, standing on the ground on all fours. As the attack went above him, the son of Tsunade threw his leg back, aiming for his opponent's face, yet the white-haired boy easily dodged the assault by bending back.
As his attack missed, Takaru quickly bended his leg at the knee, grabbing the Suna gennin's bone with his leg, much to sand-nin's surprise. With the weapon immobilized, the scar-faced teen bounced off the ground and spinning in mid-air, aimed another kick at his adversary's head, this one going parallel to the surface.
With no alternative, Honemaru ducked under the assault as another bone grew from his elbow with which he rammed the leaf-nin's back, sending Takaru sliding a few meters. With pain circling through his body, the scar-faced teen slowly struggled to stood back up, while his adversary patiently waited with his face rid of emotion.
"In long range these guys are about equal" Kumiko analyzed with a worried expression. "However close encounters are another story. That guys ability makes it impossible to predict his movements, skipping the fact that Takaru wasn't a close-range fighter to begin with. As it is now, he has no advantage he could use!"
"That's it Hone-chan, kick his ass!" Aoru yelled, throwing her fist to the sky while Torune watched calmly with her chin propped against her palm. Only Tarakudo seemed uninterested in the match as he stood away from the rail, leaning against the wall: "Pointless… it's not like Honemaru can lose anyway…"
"That was a perfect chance for him to attack" Kusari noted, settling his gaze on the white-haired boy. "Why isn't he attacking?" he wondered, completely confused. Takai remained indifferent to it all, knowing the answer: "Don't tell me he's still concerned over that…"
"Why get up?" Honemaru asked as Takaru shakingly got back to his feet. "Just now, I missed you spine on purpose, otherwise you'd be paralyzed by now. That alone should help you realize the gap…"
"Yeah, well, thanks for sparing my health, but I'm afraid you may regret that yet" the scar-faced boy replied, huffing slightly. "I can't just get beaten in such a lame way. I'm the son of Tsunade and I made myself a promise that I will not rest until I surpass her! There's no way I'll be failing here that easily!"
"I see" the sand-nin nodded calmly with understanding. "So you too need to prove something" he announced, forcing Takaru to widen his eyes from surprise. He did not had time to ask as Honemaru charged again, ripping out his spinal cord and pointing its tip at his heart.
"Well, this is new" Futatsu thought with a smirk.
As the spear came close enough, the scar-faced boy flipped, resting his palm on top of the spine. Using that as his springboard, he bounced forward, throwing both legs at the Suna gennin's chest. The attack connected, however the effect was much less then the son of Tsunade desired as Honemaru merely slide few inches back, generally unharmed.
"He strengthened his ribs again!" Galu noticed immediately, while the white-haired boy went into a twist, spinning his weapon above head as well. Propped by the momentum, the spear turned into a blur as it went for Takaru's face, giving the boy too little time to react.
The Leaf shinobi managed to lean back in time to avoid the chop, yet the sharp tip still scratched his face, leaving a long cut from ear to ear. The attack didn't stopped there though and in a blink of an eye Honemaru spun his spear again, thrusting the other end forward, piercing the lower part of Takaru's chest, making the scar-faced boy bend over, gasping for air.
"Honemaru has the upper hand" Karame thought to himself while the white-haired teen pulled his spear out of his adversary's gut, readying himself to land another blow. His attention however got diverted to a suspicious, sizzling sound that reached his ears and as he glanced at his spine, he noticed an explosive tag attached to the weapon only a millisecond before the note went off, covering the area with dust.
"A smokescreen, eh?" the sand-nin figured between coughs as he jumped back, escaping the cloud that hindered his view. "Surely he didn't think that would break my weapon, so he used that to buy some time… he's probably hiding somewhere in the trees… I could go and search, but what's the point in that?"
"Such a cheap trick" Senkou commented with a straight face as he stared at the arena. Kogane on the other hand had very different thoughts running through her head: "Takaru-kun… is actually losing?" Ibuki didn't react. She just narrowed her eyes, still focused on the battle.
"Sorry, Naruto-san, but that kid has no chance of winning against Honemaru" Temari stated, shifting her gaze to the blond jounin, who merely smirked at the comment: "Just like Kai had no chance of winning against that scythe fellow? I'm afraid you're giving my gennin too little credit. You two just watch; Kai wasn't the only one to improve during that month's time" he announced, making Kankuro raise his eyebrow in curiosity as he glanced back to the arena.
"This is not good" the scar-faced boy analyzed, forming a quick seal as he rested his back against the tree. In a flash green chakra surrounded his palms, which he then used to wipe the newly-inflicted cut from his face, while the other got placed upon his chest, making the new wound close itself slowly. "In terms of close-range he exceeds me and by quite much so… plus those bones of his are starting to be a real pain… in more ways then one. My only option is to try those techniques Sasuke-san taught me, but last time I used these… I almost ended up getting blown to bits! If I screw up…"
"Takaru, what the hell do you think you're doing?" a familiar voice rang in his ears, coming from the platform. As he glanced in that direction, he saw Kai standing there, his body covered in bandages and plasters, yet a wide smirk showing on his face: "Do I really need to remind you how pathetic you look every, single time? Finish this already!"
"Screw you, Dead Last!" the son of Tsunade shoot back. "You're not allowed to comment when you lost your fight earlier!" he added and then shifted back to Honemaru, smiling under his nose: "That guy… I honestly don't know if I want to kill him or thank him" he said to himself as he began gathering chakra: "Hey, bone boy, this is where it ends! Allow me to show you what I have learned during the past month!" and with that his hands blurred in an array of seals…
---the hero returns… and Takaru makes a gamble!---
Yes, Kai finally returns to the scene, although quite battered. And the fight between Takaru and Honemaru heats up in a very literal sense. Hope that you liked this installment and please, review. It'd mean a lot if you did. Now, as usual, bellow there's a list of gennin teams and the match-up for the tournament, along with the jutsu encyclopedia, although this time around it'll only be translations, coz I'm kinda drained… besides, except Kasai Taihou, all the techniques were used before, so by skimming through NNG you should be able to recall them.
Konoha #7 (Naruto): Murasakki Kumiko, Tanken Ibuki, Gekido Takaru, Hagane Kusari, Haisha Kai
Konoha #3 (Shikamaru): Konpaku Rei, Rikoteki Kogane, Amagasa Toku, Debano Kitsune, Gusoku Hanamaru
Konoha #4 (Hinata): Igaku Mikka, Inuzuka Tsume, Benda Kokoro, Hatake Senkou, Kobushi Galu
Konoha (Shino): Hamano Taki, Hyuuga Hitomi, Manako Akira, Tanken Funbo, Horohoro
Suna #1 (Temari): Aoru, Torune, Honemaru, Tarakudo, Takai
Suna #2 (Kankuro): Sabaku no Sabure, Hari, Dekai, Horamaru, Karame
Kusa (none): Hokku Tobane, Kanraku Nezumi, Kuchibashi Taka, Kyohaku Tokame, Wanabi Hizoku
Ame (unknown): Kasano Youji, Nokogiri Karei, Eshaku Ryo, Furikuzu Tsuino, Hebereke Nazaa
Tsuki (Hinami Hoshiru): Junsei Teela, Tenka, Chishio Nobu, Chishio Kumo, Kihako Tasuki
Kane (unknown): Futatsu
Fight 4: Honemaru (7) vs. Gekido Takaru (8) – in progress
Fight 5: Benda Kokoro (9)vs. Horamaru (10)
Fight 6: Furikuzu Tsuino (11) vs. Tarakudo (12)
Fight 7: Manako Akira (13) vs. Dekai (14)
Fight 8: Hyuuga Hitomi (15) vs. Tenka (16)
Fight 9: Hokku Tobane (17) vs. Sabaku no Sabure (18)
Fight 10: Murasakki Kumiko (19) vs. Debano Kitsune (20)
Fight 11: Junsei Teela (21) vs. Kanraku Nezumi (22)
Fight 12: Horohoro (23) vs. Hagane Kusari (24)
Fight 13: Aoru (25) vs. Hamano Taki (26)
Fight 14: Torune (27) vs. Hari (28)
Fight 15: Amagasa Toku (29) vs. Kyohaku Tokame (30)
Fight 16: Kobushi Galu (31) vs. Karame (32)
Fight 17: Takai vs. Wanabi Hizoku
Fight 18: Tanken Funbo vs. ?
Insei Tooriame (Meteor Shower)
Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu (Fire Release: Grand Fireball Skill; in some translations known as the Blaze of Glory)
Katon: Kasai Taihou (Fire Release: Fire Cannon)
And that's it for this time around, but if you don't have enough, I invite you to try out my newest next generation fic, Legacy of the Leaf, which will be uploaded shortly.
Thanks again for reading and until next time, hopefully!