Well, vacation does hinder writing as a whole, but I'm quite happy with the fact that once I sat down to it, I was able to finish this chappie relatively quick (and easy... can't remember last time NNG gave me this little trouble :D). And I even managed to cook-up a SPECIAL TREAT for all you "hardcore" NNG fans – an update on the Side Stories, including another Inside :D Sadly, with so little votes in the Character Popularity Poll it's hard to determine whether many of you care about the character presented in the "Inside" or not, but those who are interested should check it out anyway, as there's a special note as well.
Again I wanna thank everyone who sacrificed their time to review. It means a lot and I still encourage you to take part in Character Popularity Poll vote ;) It's not mandatory, but it feels kinda strange to get so little votes in comparison with the previous editions... oh well, things happen ^^'
Without further ado, lets move on to the chapter itself:
Chapter #146: Teela versus Nezumi
Title Page: Funbo is sitting with his staff on his knees, panting heavily as he gazes to the sky from the edge of his dojo, while the room behind him is filled with throwing weapons, many of which are struck into the floor and walls
"These are the registration forms for the upcoming, Chuunin Selection Exam" Hinami announced as she handed her students the papers. "If you wanna take part, then fill them out by tomorrow... well, that's that" she added with a shrug and then disappeared, leaving the five gennin confused.
"Dammit, I hate when she does that!" Kumo stated, a vein pulsing on his forehead. "Why the hell do we need to put up with such a jounin instructor?" he asked rhetorically, but Tenka merely stared at him for a moment at the question, without any reaction. Nobu, apparently, was too shock to react as well.
"Let it go, that's how she is" Tasuki waved his hand not carrying and then smirked as he shifted his attention to Teela: "But, y'know, I heard this year the exams are held in Konoha... with the whole Hagane thing, I'd imagine you'd be interested... plus, it's a waste to have someone as strong as you stuck on gennin rank" he proclaimed as he waved the paper gently. "But, as I heard, it's a team tournament, so if even one of us wouldn't go, we all can't. The trouble-teen twins over there and Tenka most certainly desire to prove themselves, so they won't back out, but me... I'm actually happy staying gennin a while longer" he teased, widening his smirk. "So why should I bother? I'm not a team player and I don't feel like doing anything for you guys" he announced, yet the blue-haired kunoichi shown no reaction to his word. In stead, she just gazed at the sheet before her...
-Flashback end-
"The opponent is one of those grass-nins" Nobu noted, narrowing his eyes. "Think Teela will win?" he asked, turning towards Tasuki, yet the boy didn't flinch at all, answering with his hands still tied before his mouth: "Don't go asking stupid questions... you know just as well as I do, that there's no gennin that can beat her."
"Eleventh match: Junsei Teela from Tsuki against Kanraku Nezumi of Kusa!" Lee proclaimed as the the grass-nin placed Hamaru gently on the ground. "BEGIN!" he yelled, moving out of the way as the brown-haired girl instantly charged forward.
In a flash Nezumi came to a sliding stop before the moon-nin, thrusting her right arm at the latter's chest. With one, smooth motion, Teela spun on her foot and slapped the rat girl's wrist, throwing the attack off course, while she herself threw her other hand at the enemy's face., The Kusa kunoichi immediately ducked under the opened palm and launched her leg at the blue-haired female's feet, hoping to catch her off guard.
No such luck as the Tsuki gennin merely jumped up and somersaulting a few times, she went through a series of hand seals: "Suiton: Mizu Shuuren no Jutsu!" she rated stated then yelled as her mouth spitted out a large steam of water, which quickly began spinning wildly, like a cyclone.
In an instant Nezumi rolled to the side, dodging the assault which struck the ground, digging a shallow crater at the place of impact. While still in motion, the grass-nin reached to her hostels and unleashed a barrage of shuriken, each flying towards Teela, who was still in mid-air.
Keeping her indifferent exterior, the blue-haired girl performed another set of symbols and swung her arm, leaving a wall of liquid behind, which blocked the incoming shinobi stars, surprisingly making them all drop to the ground harmlessly at the moment of impact.
"What the...?" Ibuki's eyes widen at the sight as the Tsuki ninja landed on her feet. "Those shuriken should've went through that water like butter! The pressure and velocity weren't strong enough to change their course! How the hell did she do that?"
"Well, that Grass girl is doing better then you did, Rei" Kogane teased her teammate with a smirk, yet the lazy kunoichi didn't react to it... not like that was any surprise. Hanamaru however was nervously chopping on his chips: "This is so unreal! It's like that Tsuki chick is several times stronger then our Rei!"
"Don't spread such nonsense" the sleepy female asked in her usual, slow voice, her attention kept on the arena. "Only several times stronger? Don't kid yourself... even now I can tell that back then, during eliminations... she was barely even trying..."
Meanwhile Nezumi didn't allow her opponent to rest as she resumed her assault immediately, kunai held between her fingers. Beating the distance in a flash, she swung at Teela's cheek, forcing the moon-nin to duck under the attack. Without delay the blue-haired kunoichi threw a kick upwards, going for the rat girl's chin, but the latter also dodged, tilting her head to the right.
Quickly the grass-nin aimed a knee to her adversary's face, only to have it blocked by an opened palm, while the leg that just shoot up was brought down, smashing into Nezumi's left shoulder. The pain surged through her body in a blink of an eye, sending the Kusa kunoichi to her knees in stead, leaving an opening.
An opening Teela was not about to waste as she quickly rose up and thrust her palm at the rat girl's face, slamming it hard against Nezumi's nose. The force knocked the Grass gennin to her back, while the moon-nin calmly took few steps back, shifting her gaze towards Lee.
The jounin merely glanced at the fallen kunoichi and then back at the blue-haired one, his expression obviously telling he was not about to end this match. Showing little reaction to the news, the Tsuki ninja once more turned to her opponent, who by then flipped back to a standing position, wiping the blood from under her nose.
"You're certainly better then I've anticipated" Nezumi announced with a smile, still gaining no indication from her adversary, which did annoy her a bit, making her eye twitch. "Not much of a talker, are you?"
"Words are cheap" Teela replied simply in her normal monotone. "It's the actions that truly define who we are and where we're going. For example – it is easy to say 'I love you'... proving that statement to be true is a very different matter..."
"Point taken" the grass-nin nodded, her face becoming serious. "This concludes the small-talk portion of the match" she joked, picking out more kunai before tossing the knives forward. The Tsuki kunoichi didn't move though as the projectiles flew right on the sides of her.
Her eyes widen slightly as she felt a grip on her arms, only now realizing thin strings were tied to the knives and began wrapping around her the instant kunai flew by. Returning to her emotionless exterior, Teela jumped back as Nezumi came at her with a drop kick, sported with a wild, battle cry.
Despite missing, the rat girl didn't slow down and pressed on, quickly spinning on her foot to throw another kick, this time to her opponent's cheek. The moon-nin ducked again and strafed right as an uppercut went for her head. Still untouched, she spun herself, dodging a third kick launched by the Grass gennin.
"She can certainly moves swiftly" Galu admitted as Teela jumped back again, getting out of the range of Nezumi's kicks. Apparently Tarakudo was also amazed: "That chick's pretty good... it should be fun fighting her in the final..."
"She may not reach that far" Akira announced, making most people gaze at him confused. "In all this excitement, that Tsuki girl made a fatal mistake... one you all seem to have made as well" he added, confusing them even further.
In was just then that Teela backed away once more, only to feel her legs getting wrapped as well. She only managed to glance down at the sensation, spotting Hamaru running around with a kunai in his mouth.
"Of course!" Hari nearly smacked herself at the realization. "That Nezumi girl is teamed up with a rat! With her partner being that small, he can virtually act unnoticed, especially if the battle is intense and requires constant movement. That Grass girl probably uses herself as a distraction to give the vermin enough time to set up the final blow! She did the very same against that tiger femme in the eliminations!"
"And so it ends!" the rat kunoichi proclaimed, throwing a punch at Teela's face... only to have it go straight through the target with a spalsh. The Kusa gennin's eyes widen as she felt her arm getting soaked, while water dripped from the spot she hit: "Wha...?"
In a blink of an eye the blue-haired kunoichi's body disintegrated into liquid, freeing itself from the bind. It took even less for the water to recompose back into the form of the moon-nin, who swung her arm at point blank range, releasing a whip of water: "Mizu Suraisaa!"
Upon impact the whip ripped Nezumi's clothes just above her chest, cutting the skin in the process. The sudden pain forced the girl to take a few steps back as she hid her aching spot, a single tought running through her mind: "Without any hand seals?"
"Ach, ecchi!" Kai stated, covering his eyes, although his fingers were surprisingly widely spread as he did so. Kusari made no such attempt, still closely observing the match, to which the blond reacted again: "Look, I know you're a perv and all, but you should, at the very least, pretend that you're not a hormone-driven nut!"
"It's not about the cloth-ripping" Takaru assured him, also keeping his narrowed eyes on the arena. After a few moments he turned to the chain master as well, speaking in his usual, calm voice, granted one could tell it was the slightest bit shaky: "What the heck is that, Kusari?"
"That would be Teela-san's bloodline limit, Seitai no Enkai... or Body of the Ocean, if you prefer" he replied, his attention still settled on the match bellow. "It's a very unique skill... you can call it a mastery of Water Release..."
"Mastery of Suiton?" Taki repeated, visibly intrigued.
"Yes" Kusari responded with a nod. "Seitai no Enkai allows its wielder to, very literally, control water on a molecular level. It's a well-known fact that in 70% human body consists of water; those of the Junsei clan can fully manipulate that liquid, whichever way they desire. Since it's already infused with their chakra, they don't even require seals to do so. Basically, they can rearrange the water molecules with their own, changing any part of their body into liquid, granting that liquid bonus properties, such as sharpness, hardness and whatnot."
"Wait a second" Kitsune started to freak out at the news. "So you're telling me that chick can turn her entire body into liquid?" at this he received another nod from the chain master. "This is way beyond troublesome then; even if you get through with an attack, you'll just be hitting liquid! There's no physical attack that will work! In a way, that's even worse then that masked girl's sand!" he panicked.
"Not necessary" Horohoro cut in, his arms crossed. "You may even say that the whole liquid body thing is one, huge weak point; if she was fighting me, that sort of defense is meaningless before an ice user. Frankly, activating such a bloodline would make the fight easier for me. I suppose I can be happy though – the next round will be easy to pass" he proclaimed with a smirk, then turned towards Kusari: "Of course, I'll need to beat you first..."
"You are all very short-sighted" Hizoku cut in, propping his chin on the hand which was resting on the rail. "I'd advice you hold on with your theories though... first off, you should not speak as if Nezumi already lost" he announced, beaming with confidence, to which Tokame only narrowed his eyes, while Tobane gave out a worried look.
Back on the battlefield, Nezumi ripped off her top, leaving her upper body only mildly covered, while Hamaru traveled back to her shoulder, giving a weak squeak. Seeing this, Taka also narrowed his eyes, sensing what was coming: "First Hizoku, then Tobane and now this... they're all idiots!"
"Doesn't seem like normal techniques will suffice" the rat kunoichi admitted, allowing a smirk to appear on her face. "That's quite a bummer, coz I was hoping to save that for later. Can't be helped though, I suppose... Hamaru, time for us to go all out!"
-Nezumi goes wild!-
And so this chapter ends! Hope you enjoyed it. I gotta be honest – I was somewhat waiting for this match, coz it annoyed the hell outta me that it takes this much time to reach the point where BOTH Teela and Nezumi can actually show their true skills. Ironically though, revealing Teela originally was supposed to take two chapters ^^' I shortened that, because... well, I truly didn't see this fight being interesting until both girls go for their thumb cards :D So what is Nezumi's? Well, you'll find out soon enough, but as usual there were some hints about it already, especially in her elimination match :D
Konoha #7 (Naruto): 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, Manako Akira, Tanken Funbo, Horohoro
Suna #1 (Temari): Aoru, Torune, Tarakudo, Takai
Suna #2 (Kankuro): Sabaku no Sabure, Hari, Dekai, Karame
Kusa (none): Hokku Tobane, Kanraku Nezumi, Kuchibashi Taka, Kyohaku Tokame, Wanabi Hizoku
Tsuki (Hinami Hoshiru): Junsei Teela, Kihako Tasuki, Chishio Kumo, Chishio Nobu
Kane (unknown): Futatsu
Kumori (Tategamaru): Saiken Tenma
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. Gekido Takaru
Fight 19: Benda Kokoro vs. Tarakudo
Fight 20: Manako Akira (automatic win)
Fight 21: Sabaku no Sabure vs. Debano Kitsune
Suiton: Mizu Shuuren no Jutsu (Water Release: Water Drill Skill)
Mizu Suraisaa (Water Slicer)
And yeah, I promised to put up the names of Suna, Kusa and Tsuki teams, but ultimately I've decided to pace myself ;P So this time around it's just Sand gennin and next time I'll finish up with Hidden Moon and Grass, completing the "name list" for all the more important gennin:
Takai – his name can be translated as "death", which I found suitable, concerning his attitude at the start... a big resemblance to Kai's name is also NOT coincidental ;)
Aoru – her name means "to fan" (allusion to her weapon of choice) or "to agitate"... ironic, as she's more the type to cheer others up. It can also mean "to gulp down", a reference to her village being located in the desert;
Tarakudo – this I'm somewhat ashamed of, but there never was any meaning behind Tarakudo; it's one of the seven names made up at the beginning that I haven't changed. But, if you exclude "ta", you get "rakudo", which means "paradise"... the God of Irony is pleased :D
Torune – if you add -edo to her name, you get the Japanese pronunciation of "tornado" - toruneedo... nuff said;
Honemaru - "hone" means simply "bone, backbone, core", to which I added the suffix -maru, explained in the previous chapter;
Dekai - "dekai" means "huge, gargantuan", which is a reference to the size of his sword;
Sabaku no Sabure - "sabure" is another word for "sand", which put with her nicknames, gives you "sand of the desert" :D On a side note - "sabaku" can also be translated as "to judge"... I'll leave it up to you how to understand it in regards to Sabure ;)
Karame – his name can mean "salty", "somewhat hot" (supposedly guys, who are mysterious have luck with the ladies :D) or "harsh", that last one I find quite ironic;
Hari - "hari" can be translated as "needle, pin", a direct allusion to her abilities. It can also mean "pride, will-power" and written with two 'a' (haari) means "flying ant" - an indirect allusion to her father, who once used a puppet named Kuroari (Black Ant);
Horamaru – written with two 'o', "hoora" means "winning" (both irony and not), while "hora" itself can mean "bragging, big talk", which I think described Horamaru quite well, if you look at the big picture (but not all of you may understand it yet). Naturally, his name is also made of the suffix -maru; and, just as a bonus, "hora" can also be translated as "cave, den";
And this really concludes this chapter. Hope you enjoyed it. Place a vote for the Character Popularity Contest if you want and see you next time!