Finally I've managed to finish this chapter. To be honest, judging from how long it took me to write it down, I'd say that if I didn't had all, other things on my head, this one would be actually done in no time at all… oh well, beauty of life, I suppose.

I must admit that this chapter turned out a bit different then I first thought it will… at times I even felt like I was writing my "Dragon Blood" with Ren fighting… I sure hope that, in that regard, I haven't overdone Takaru… but that will be for you guys to judge.

I also noted that around this time, five years ago, this fic was published… I wish to celebrate the 5-year anniversary, but seeing as how I uploaded like 12 chapters over the past, two years, I'm not sure if I can allow myself to… I initially was planning to submit at least 26 chapters a year (one per two weeks) and, ironically, if you do multiply 26 by five you'd actually get 130, meaning I almost made it with quantity XD Kinda saddens me even more that due to different circumstances I got two years in the back

But enough of my rant. Before we start, I just wish to thank everyone who reviewed the previous chapter and ask all of you to leave a comment upon finishing to read this. It'd mean a lot. And now, lets get down to the show:

Chapter #129: Expectations

Title Page: Kumiko is standing with a watering can in the center of a garden with a wide smile on her face

"Allow me to show you what I've learned in the past month!" Takaru yelled, flipping through a new set of hand seals. As the final symbol brought his hands together, flames gathered between his palms, which he quickly thrust at the ground with a call: "Katon: Gojinka!"

In a flash the ground shook, making Honemaru jump back on instinct. In the next moment fire erupted in the place he stood a second earlier, shooting to the sky. The sand-nin had no time to celebrate however as his feet felt another shake, to which he reacted by strafing left, barely avoiding another strike. Before long, the bone user found himself dancing around the arena as more flaming pillars sprung from below ground, each aimed at the exact spot he stood at.

With the last blast the white-haired boy came to a sudden stop as the final pillar shoot up just before him, glazing his face and thus leaving a small, burnt mark on his cheek, to which the artificial shinobi didn't react. Takaru on the other hand stared at his adversary, sweat appearing all over his face: "He… evaded them all!"

Suddenly burning pain exploded in his stomach, making the scar-faced teen to clench his teeth while his left eye twitch a bit: "Damn, it didn't take" he concluded, huffing slightly. "Seems I still can't perform these skills correctly… I'll only manage a few, more tries before my body gives in…" he realized while Honemaru charged at him, ripping bones out of his own arms.

As he beat the distance, the white-haired boy cut horizontally with his right hand, aiming at Takaru's head. The son of Tsunade ducked under the assault but as the calcium blade whistled over him, the leaf-nin's eyes widen as the other was thrust straight at his face.

As the spike was reaching him, the Konoha gennin tilted his head to the left, allowing the bone co scourge his right cheek. But as the blade went next to its target, the scar-faced boy grabbed it, completely ignoring the pain that came immediately through his hand as the skin on his palm got ripped. While the crimson liquid dripped from his arm, Takaru simply extended his other hand, letting the blood to fall upon it. With the first drops his arm flipped, performing a single-handed seal, much to everyone's surprise.

"He can do that too?" Horohoro flinched slightly as the younger leaf-nin's hand instantly got wrapped by flames. In a blink of an eye the flaming fist shoot forward, going after Honemaru's stomach. With his weapon still held by his adversary, the white-haired boy quickly let go of it and jumped to the sky, splitting his legs, thus avoiding the punch.

Takaru didn't waste time however and flipping the bone he was now in possession, he thrust it upwards at his opponent, who was still in mid-air. With no way to dodge, the sand-nin used his other, calcium blade to block the attack. To his surprise though, the scar-faced boy's other arm suddenly also burst into flames, which ran up the bone and shoot out, hitting the artificial shinobi death center in the chest.

As Honemaru got blasted back, Takaru readied himself to give chase, only to freeze at the sizzling sound that reached his ears. With a quick glance down he was a burning note that was dropping to the ground right beneath his feet, forcing him to jump back as the explosion engulfed the area.

"He used Takaru's own fire to initiate the tag" Toku quickly analyzed. "To think that even taken off guard, he's capable of counter this easily… what a monster…"

Takaru soared through the air with smoke lines following him. With a few, burnt wounds, he came to a sliding stop, his hands already flashing through more seals: "Katon: Kasai Tori!" he proclaimed as flames began rising from his body, forming a shape just above the boy, soon revealed to be a bird.

"Isn't that the same technique Naruto-sensei used against that Kataki guy back in Stone Country?" Kumiko realized, widening her eyes at the sight while the burning bird shoot straight at Honemaru, going through air with a sizzling sound. The sand-nin easily dodged by somersaulting over the phoenix, only to widen his eyes as the comet turned around, heading for the white-haired boy yet again.

"A homing attack?" was his first guess as he went into a dash the instant his feet touched the ground. The flaming form of the soaring predator followed, even as he went up the arena wall, forcing the bird to sky rocket. At this point the bone user found himself getting a tad irritated: "I can't outrun it…"

Meanwhile Takaru was finishing another technique, again taking in the air: "Katon: Kasai Hebi!" he exclaimed as a steam of flames blasted from his mouth, wriggling towards Honemaru who just got back to the ground with the phoenix still in hot pursuit. Seeing the new attack coming at him in the form of a vicious snake, the sand-nin came to an abrupt stop, the heat of the atmosphere forcing sweat from his body.

When the flames were no more then centimeters away, he jumped up, thrusting his hand downward as another bone shoot from it. The calcium spike dug into the ground, lifting the white-haired boy up as it kept extending, the two, burning creatures moving to fast to maneuver in time.

They collided in a powerful explosion of flames and heat, covering most of the arena in steam, much to Tarakudo's annoyance. Aoru only tightened her grip on the rail at the development, staring intensely at the aftermath of the action: "Is Hone-chan okay?" she wondered worriedly.

Soon the smokescreen cleared, revealing Honemaru standing calmly on the ground, the long bone he just used resting in his hand like a spear. Some of his robe got burned and one could see new, dark spots on various parts of his body, yet the sand-nin seemed generally okay, his face stoic like it usually has been.

Senkou's body shook, be it from excitement, anger or fear Ibuki could not tell, but seeing the masked gennin narrow his eyes was rarely a good sign; she knew this much from the day she meet him: "To think in just one mouth he improved this much" the son of Kakashi cursed in his mind. "Compared to him, I…"

"Way to go, Takaru-kun!" Kogane kept cheering, much to the silver-haired boy's further annoyance. Naruto, who at this time was standing on the other side of the stands, merely narrowed his eyes as well as he settled them on his student's huffing form: "I know those techniques… they're from Uchiha Forbidden Scroll, skills so dangerous that even the clansmen themselves were banned from using. It's understandable that with the clan being reduced to just few people Sasuke would try and master them, strengthening Uchiha position in the Leaf, but they're not of the level a gennin can execute! The aftereffects will destroy the kid's internal organs with just a few tries… Sasuke, you asshole, what the hell have you done? I didn't ask you to train Takaru for this!"

"I must admit, Kusari-kun… your teammate is quite scary" Teela announced, though neither her voice nor expression suggested he spoke the truth, making the chain master sweat drop at her comment: "Y-yeah" he nodded, shifting his eyes away from the kunoichi. "To think he improved this much… I'm actually worried about running into him in the final…"

"Takaru-san may no reach that far" Kokoro cut in matter-of-factly with a stoic voice and as Kitsune questioned what he meant, the mind reader continued, his face indifferent, yet a note of concern could be caught as he spoke: "Just by looking, you should be able to tell these attacks put some sort of strain on his body… he's much more warned out then he should be from a simple, chakra exhaustion… I do not know what those effects might be, however judging from the state he's in, I'd assume two more of these techniques are his limit… if not less…"

At those words, Kai's eyes narrowed as he gazed back at the battlefield bellow, a tad depressed: "Takaru…" he worried as his teammate finished another set of seals: "Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu!" he yelled, making flames burst out of his mouth, but at a much lesser scale then his, previous attacks.

Honemaru easily dodged the assault, rolling to his right and instantly picking up the paste, appearing before his opponent's face faster then the latter could react. The artificial shinobi stopped just before the tip of his bone pierced through the scar-faced boy's chest. The white-haired teen stared into the leaf-nin's eyes with an emotionless gaze for a moment, neither of the two moving an inch.

"You're not gonna dodge?" he asked finally as Takaru glanced down, almost as if he just spotted the bone near his gut. "I didn't aim at the vital points, but this'll still hurt, possibly disable you completely… you should move…"

At this, the other boy merely smirked with sweat going down his face: "I would like that… only I'm not fast enough… I saw the attack, I knew it was coming… but what good are quick eyes if the body can't react? My body is reaching its limit… I doubt I can go on…"

"Then give up" Honemaru purposed simply, remaining still.

"I can't do that either" the Leaf gennin responded, his smirk widening. "I already told you: as Tsunade's son I can't go down that easily, especially with most of Konoha watching. And there's also that dope up there… if I just give up, he'll never let me hear the end of it…"

"Yes, that was more or less what you said" the sand-nin nodded, finally retreating his bone, much to Takaru's surprise. "Believe it or not, but I understand that pain… having all eyes turned to you with expectations, just because of your heritage… I know that feeling all too well" he admitted, lowering his head. "I was created as the perfect weapon, my only reason for existence was to fight… to kill… to serve Suna as their faithful soldier. I was different from Takai and Tarakudo, I was a success… I was preciously what the project expected to achieve; the clone of Kaguya… the one destined to greatness" he recalled, making Kakashi glanced at Gaara, who shocked him by avoiding eye-contact.

"I'm not even human" Honemaru went on, putting the bone back into his body. "I'm a tool, in every sense of the word. I live only to serve and to succeed. No-one expects more of me… but the thing is, I no longer strive for that" he announced, glancing at the platform to settle his eyes on Takai and manage a smile of his own, for the first time letting his emotions show. "Not in that way at least. I strive to succeed for Hidden Sand's sake, but not because I'm expected to do so… but because I want to do so! As insignificant as it may be, I wish to have that illusionary freedom that I do have a say in who I become… and what I want, is to become a champion in my own right… not as Kaguya's clone… but as Honemaru…"

At this Takaru smirked, lowering his head a bit: "I see… well then, not much any of us can really do then… truthfully, my body can't take much more of the strain, but I will admit that I respect your resolve… this is why I'm gonna honor you by putting my life on the line… I'll finish this with the attack, the ultimate, fire jutsu, invented by Uchiha Madara himself!"

"Wha…?" Kakashi's eyes widen at the info while Naruto prepared himself to step into the arena: "This is not good!" he cursed as his student already began the new set of seals. Saiken only smiled under his headgear: "This should be fun…"

Honemaru gave a small nod as he charged at his adversary, bones growing from every inch of his body: "Let us prove our worth then!" he called, figure getting engulfed with a calcium armor, filled with spikes, that left only tiny openings for eyes, turning the sand-nin into a white tank.

As he came inches before Takaru, the scar-faced teen finished his technique as well, having flames burst up from his body: "Katon: Kasai Arashi!"

-the ultimate attack… and its effect?-

And so this chapter is concluded. Hope you enjoyed it. Please tell me what you think of it. As usual, below there's a jutsu list and character list, along with the fight rooster for the final exam:

Katon: Gojinka (Fire Release: Volcanic Eruption)

Katon: Kasai Tori (Fire Release: Fire Bird)

Katon: Kasai Hebi (Fire Release: Fire Snake)

Katon: Kasai Arashi (Fire Release: Firestorm)

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. ?

With this, I believe I can close this chapter. Hopefully you'll drop by with the next installment. Until then!