Well, writing this chapter had its ups and downs, but I'm finally done with it :) It may sound strange, but I'm actually kinda relieved; I had a suspicion that finishing Kusari's match and handling the one after that will be a bother and I guess the past, two weeks proved me right ^^' Well, I can hope the next one will be easier to finish :)
As always I wish to thank everyone who sacrificed their time to review; it truly means a lot and it REALLY helped me get through the writer's block I got about halfway through this chappie. Thanks you guys.
On another note, NNG is getting a new beta (lets see how long this one will last ;P just kidding ;)). The brave soul goes by the name CecilRedwing, hope you'll give him a warm welcome.
With that, I believe the only thing left to do is get down to the chapter itself. Hope you'll enjoy it:
Chapter #152: A Different Path
Title Page: Aoru is peaking out from behind a traditional, Japanese fan, winking
"Excuse me, Lee-san, but... I'd like to give up" Kusari announced, turning to the proctor, who just raised his massive eyebrow at the news. Glancing over to the blue-haired teen, he took note that the latter was just as shocked as himself, yet the jounin nodded at the request, calling out the result: "Hagane Kusari forfeits and thus... Horohoro of the Leaf in the victor!"
"What the hell?" Kai snapped, grabbing Takaru by the collar. "Why did he gave up?"
"How should I know, bonehead!" the scar-faced boy responded, freeing himself from the hold. And, as the two started bickering, Teela allowed a tiny smirk to cross her face, dropping the usual, emotionless exterior which she carried: "A very intriguing choice, Kusari-kun..."
"So this is the strrrength of a Hagane?" Tategamaru concluded, still wrapped tightly in his cloak. "It's quite disappointing rrreally... he's nothing, comparrred to his brrrotherrr" he proclaimed, making Saiken glance at the man, while propping his back against the wall: "Well, despite the challenges his personality presents, Hasaki-san is an outstanding shinobi to begin with... even I can admit this much from our brief encounter."
"Hasaki is no morrre then a pawn in this, parrrticularrr play" the man responded calmly.
"And are we anymore... Tategamaru-sensei?"
"Oh man" Senkou slammed his palm against his forehead as the two fighters left the arena. "I cannot believe that doodle brain actually gave up!" he whined, visibly displeased with the outcome. Uramaru barked loudly in agreement, while Tsume merely chuckled at the chain master's antics.
"It was a good match though" Mikka offered shyly, playing with her fingers as her head lowered. Faith decided to have some fun though as her comment was mostly obscured by Rei's snoring, who got back to sleep without anyone even noticing until now. Sweat dropping at her teammate's behavior, Kogane waved her hand, speaking in a lady-like manner: "Well, he did gave us quite a show... didn't think the perv was that capable..."
Hanamaru kept munching on his chips, barelt paying heed to any of this, but Ibuki couldn't help smiling as she watched the blue-haired teen appear back on the platform: "Good job, Horohoro-san" she thought to herself before shifting her eyes back to the battlefield: "You too, dumbass" she added a moment later, widening her smirk.
Also Taka smiled behind his mask, recalling his match with the young gennin, while Futatsu narrowed his eyes: "That Hagane brat... he's really getting on my nerves..."
"This was... unexpected" Shino announced in his usual monotone, readjusting his shades. Hinata could do no more then giggle at the fact; over the years she has gotten to know her comrade well enough to know when his posture was at a breaking point. Undoubtfully, this was one of those times. Naruto, who was on the other side of the stands, smiled as well: "Good to know those brats can choose their own path..."
"Hey guys" Kusari lifted his hand up in a greeting as he joined his teammates on the platform. Before he could say more however, a powerful punch to the back of his head made him bend over, a huge lump instantly growing through his hair.
"Don't you 'hey guys' me!" Kumiko snapped, a vein pulsing on her forehead as her fist tightened. "I sneak out of medical wing to watch your match and you just give up? I am so not forgiving you for this!" she vowed as the chain master rubbed his aching head, gazing at her, completely confused.
"K-Kumiko-chan?" he finally managed to speak up, his eyes sparkling. "You came!" he yelled, bolting to his feet. "You do care!" he added, attempting to embrace the girl... only to run straight into her fist, which bashed his nose in: "Well... sorta..."
Horohoro on the other hand received a simple nod from Akira as he neared his team, while Funbo snickered at the ice user: "To have opponent pity you... how disgraceful" he proclaimed. The comment didn't really surprised the blue-haired teen, who choose to ignore it for most part. What came next was much harder to disregard: "Don't listen to that meany! You did splendidly, Horo-chan!"
It was Taki that suddenly jumped onto him, wrapping her arms around his check. With a quick noogie to his hair, the kunoichi smiled behind her mask, locking the boy in a tight embrace: "I knew you were gonna win, you" she stated, underlining her words with a slap to her comrade's rear.
"Will the participants of the next match, please, step into the arena" Lee's voice reached the platform, making the mask girl straighten up: "Well, guess it's my turn" she announced, stretching her arms.
"Good luck" Horohoro spoke, slapping her on the butt as well in a teasing manner and as the kunoichi sent him an angry glare, he smirked, quickly turning her frown into a smile as well. Meanwhile, Akira joined the conversation as well, keeping a slight distance from the two: "You're facing one of those sand-nins... proceed with caution..."
"Why, Aki-chan, I didn't thought you cared" Taki joked, flipping her eyelash, only to realize this was pointless as the boy was blind. Correcting herself, she patted him on the back with full force: "Fear not, I may not be as strong as you guys, but I ain't going down that easily" she promised, turning towards Funbo, who kept his arms crossed and said nothing.
"Right" the girl hung her head as she went towards the rail. "I'll be off then..."
The young assassin gazed after his teammate and narrowing his eyes, a single thought crossed his mind; one which he wasn't specifically willing to share with anyone: "Good luck..."
"It's one of those older Leaves" Tarakudo noted with a chuckle. "This could be fun..."
"Just don't push yourself too hard" Torune asked with a worried voice, making the redhead nod in agreement. But, just as she was about to leave the platform, a familiar voice made her freeze, putting a blush onto her cheeks: "Show her what you got..."
It was Takai, who now smirked towards the kunoichi as she glanced in his direction. Incapable of speech at that, particular moment, Aoru merely nodded again and quickly jumped down, trying to hide the fact that her face as became as red as a beetroot. Without rush she walked to the center of the arena, where her adversary has already awaited her arrival.
"Thirteenth match: Aoru from Suna against Hamano Taki of Konoha" Lee began as the two kunoichi stood before each other. "BEGIN!" he yelled, jumping out of the way as the leaf-nin instantly reached for her boomerang. In a flash the weapon flew through the air, coming at the redhead at amazing speed, yet the Sand gennin managed to jump over the assault and somersaulting, she grabbed her tessen, opening it before her feet even touched the ground.
Seeing her opponent rip the mask off, Aoru charged forward, ignoring the boomerang at just began to turn to come at her back. She also remained unfazed as Taki went through a quick set of seals, gathering air in her lung: "Suiton: Suiben" she called out as a stream of water blasted from her lips in the form of a whip.
As the scourge came at her face, the sand-nin strafed right, dodging the attack, which in turn smacked the boomerang, knocking it to the ground. An instant later the redhead was already before her adversary, swinging her tessen upward, straight at the Leaf gennin's chin.
Taki managed to bend back just in time and flipping her head, she made her ponytail wrap around Aoru's arm. With a quick seal, she strengthen her hair, tightening the grip as she nodded her head, forcing the Suna kunoichi's hand down, striking her fan to the ground. Having her opponent open, the water mistress spun on her foot, delivering a kick to the other girl's cheek.
Just as the redhead was blasted away though, she put her body into a spin as well, the sudden momentum allowing her leg to find Taki's face also, pushing the leaf-nin back. Coming to a sliding stop, the Konoha gennin pulled her boomerang back into her grip via the string as she saw Aoru flipping a few times, landing safely on her feet.
Both kunoichi rubbed their soaring cheeks with a smirk as they gazed at each other. The redhead was the first to speak, smile not disappearing from her face: "You're pretty good... seem like I won't manage to bring you down just like that" she announced.
"Ditto" Taki responded simply, cracking her neck. "What say we take it up a notch?" she purposed, to which Aoru's smile only widen. With a slight nod, she agreed and the duo froze for a second, only to resume their match the next moment with the leaf-nin's hands flashing in preparation for another technique.
The Suna shinobi didn't remain passive as she quickly cut her thumb with her tessen and writing in blood on her weapon as he poured chakra into it. At this point the masked kunoichi managed to complete her technique and taking a deep breath, she released a powerful wave of water from her mouth, which cascaded straight at the redhead: "Suiton: Wanizame Batsu!"
Instantly the liquid shaped itself into a rampaging shark that came snapping at Aoru, much to Tokame's surprise: "Wasn't that that Waterfall kunoichi's technique? Are you actually telling me this girl managed to duplicate it, seeing it just once?" he wondered, gazing at Kai, recalling the blond showing off a similar feat.
Meanwhile the sand-nin finished powering her fan and, as the shark came closer, she swung it horizontally, immediately igniting a powerful wind, which literally cut through the water and went for Taki, scourging the ground in its wake.
"Without any hand signs even" Temari noted with a smirk, proud of her student. "Seems as though she made great improvements during these exams."
Seeing the assault, the masked girl jumped to the side, going into a roll. Before she could stop however, Aoru lunged at her and appearing on the right, she slashed from above, aiming at her opponent's head. In a flash Taki came to a sudden stop and blocked the attack with her boomerang.
A smile crossed the Leaf kunoichi's face as she gathered air again, spitting out a small doze of liquid, in a form of a needle: "Suiton: Suitama!"
With the assault coming at point-blank range, the redhead quickly leaned left, yet the projectile still grazed her cheek, cutting the skin. Sudden warmth spread across her face as blood flew down her cheek, while the girl pumped more chakra into her tessen, which still pressed against the boomerang.
In a flash the wind erupted from the spot, lifting tons of dust, while Taki got blown back, coming to a sliding stop a few meters away from her adversary, who seemed to have taken damage from her own attack.
"Hey, what gives?" Kai demanded, pointing at the female leaf-nin. "How in the world did she performed that technique without any hand seals?" he questioned, making Funbo smirk as he answered: "With your intellect, I'm surprised you seem to understand the mechanics behind that Sand girl's skill..."
"Well, that Suna swordsman already performed similar feats earlier" Takaru noted, glancing at the still unconscious Dekai. "At the time Ibuki explained the thing, so he probably remembers it from there... granted, I too find it surprising he actually took something like that to heart..."
"What's that supposed to mean?" the blond demanded.
"Means that you usually don't listen!" Kumiko announced, smashing him on the head. "And as for Taki's technique just now... well, I read somewhere that it is possible to delay the execution of a technique; you need to store the chakra for it and perform the seals before hand, but it can be done. Likely, when preparing the Shark Attack earlier, she also used the hand signs needed for the Water Bullet, thus keeping that technique ready..."
"Yes" Hizoku nodded, narrowing his eyes as he gazed at the arena below. "But something like this is extremely hard to manage... only a handful of jounin should be able to perform such a feat... skipping the fact that this Taki girl didn't seem that good at controlling chakra just a month ago... are you actually telling me she's grown that much in such a short amount of time?" he wondered as the two combatants took a breather, ready to resume their match.
"So you're not just about taijutsu and weapons, eh?" Taki rather stated then asked, rubbing the back of her head. "This is gonna be troublesome then. But I don't think I'm giving you as much of a challenge as Mikka did earlier... why the sudden flash?"
"Because..." Aoru began, taking a quick glance at the platform, before her eyes shifted back to her adversary. "I think that now it may finally matter..."
"So you're fighting for someone as well" the leaf-nin nodded with understanding, gazing at Akira. With a sigh, she lowered her head, realizing what that meant: "None of us is going to back down then... since that is the case, we might as well go all out and be done with it..."
"Just like that?"
"Well, normally, I like to show off at least a little" Taki responded, sticking out her tongue with a tiny blush covering her cheeks. "But this situation's a bit different... a single clash, winner take all, you game?"
Aoru hesitated for a moment and then smirked, nodding her head: "Careful... you might regret that idea..."
"I already do" the other kunoichi assured her with a smile and in a flash both clasped their hands together in a jutsu...
-putting their all in a single blow!-
And that is that... for now at least. To be honest I originally planned of stretching Aoru and Taki's fight, especially since the latter didn't got as much time to shine as I'd like thus far, but ultimately I cut most of the unimportant stuff and squeezed the whole thing into this chapter, to move the Final Exam a bit further. I can only hope that this was a good move.
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, 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 (currently in medical wing for treatment), 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 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
Fight 22: Kanraku Nezumi vs. Horohoro
Suiton: Suiben (Water Release: Water Whip) – actually I prepared this trick for Taki waaay ahead, but as I learned something similar was used in the anime, so I decided to use that naming... don't be surprised if some of the technique properties differ slightly.
Suiton: Wanizame Batsu (Water Release: Shark Attack)
Suiton: Suitama (Water Release: Water Bullet)
And this concludes this installment of NNG. Hope you enjoyed it and see you next time!