A/N: Bleh, been a hectic few months. Had to go to school in Auckland for a while, but it's all good now. NCEA is a bitch, so I might not be able to update very often sorry. Anyway, carrying on with the story! Apologies for shortness.
Warning, I enjoyed bashing Sasuke in this chapter.
Pretty Girl
A wave of excitement rippled through the crowd in the stands. This is what they had been waiting for, the sure to be good fight between the last Uchiha and a Hyuga that was arguably the most talented Konoha genin.
The genin in subject didn't seem to pay attention to the whispering crowds. In fact, they were encouraging it, merely by staring at each other, sizing the other up.
"Uchiha."
The crowd fell silent, and Sasuke only stared in reply.
"Do not assume that those eyes of yours are superior to mine. In return, I will not declare my Byakugan any more powerful than yours."
Sasuke sneered. "Of course your measly bloodline is nothing compared to mine. The Sharingan does things you couldn't even dream of."
Neji glared back. "That may be so, but the Byakugan can also perform actions that your Sharingan can not."
"Don't make me laugh! The Sharingan-"
"Excuse me for intruding on you little argument, but can you shut up so I can start the match?"
Sasuke huffed, but remained silent.
Genma sighed. "The second match of this tournament will begin… now!" he disappeared quickly, which was a good idea. Sasuke charged furiously as Neji activated his Byakugan.
"Already pulling out your little trump card, Hyuga? Scared?" Sasuke taunted as he confidently threw a flurry of punches and kicks. Neji ignored him, or perhaps rather too busy blocking the attacks. Regardless, Sasuke was an excellent at hand to hand combat.
Too bad Neji was even better.
Neji was quick to counter, swiping his foot at Sasuke's knee and using the distraction by smashing his palm against his chest. Sasuke jumped back in time, though barely. He gritted his teeth. Sasuke realised somewhere in his mind that it wasn't a good idea to fight close combat with a Hyuga, but he was determined to land a hit to teach Neji a lesson.
He pulled out a couple of shurikan and threw them while charging with a kunai.
Neji dodged them effortlessly and allowed Sasuke to come close. This time, sasuke's Sharingan blazed, and they fought on par. Neji's quick and fluid attacks matching against Sasuke's ability to predict movements. Needless to say, the crowd was captivated.
-.-.-.-.-.-.-
"…I don't know whether I should be going for Sasuke or not," Naruto commented to Gaara, who couldn't care less. Kankuro was curious though.
"Why not? Isn't he your teammate?"
"Exactly, that's why I can't decide."
Naruto ignored Kankuro's confused face and continued to watch the match.
"Who do you think will win?" he asked again.
Ignored.
"Who are you going for?"
Ignored.
"Sometimes I wish I was a pretty girl."
Gaara stared at Naruto, and Naruto stared back in complete seriousness. Gaara's mouth twitched.
Naruto gasped in shock. "Did you just-!"
Gaara stared at Naruto with a blank face, though his eyes held a little more menace.
Naruto shook his head. "Couldn't have been… I'm seeing things…"
Gaara turned back to the match, but if you looked close enough, you could see the faintest hint of pink on his cheeks.
-.-.-.-.-.-.-
Sasuke was crouching on the wall, breathing heavily. He had thrown almost everything at Neji, almost everything consisting of various weapons and jutsu. Weapons were dodged or repelled while most jutsu were demolished with a Rotation.
He flashed through signs and clutched his right wrist. Loud chirps resounded as Chidori formed around his hand.
In the stands, Kakashi sighed.
Gai looked at him in surprise. "You taught him the Chidori?" he asked in puzzlement.
"He wanted me to teach him a powerful lightning attack to counter Rotation. To be honest, I don't know if the Chidori can even defeat Rotation."
"I guess we're about to find out."
Neji looked at Sasuke's hand through Byakugan eyes. The amount of chakra being produced caused him to squint.
Sasuke charged, gravity making him even faster and leaving behind a cloud of dust and pieces of the wall he was driving his Chidori through.
Genma resisted the urge to groan out loud. Must you destroy the stadium walls so carelessly? The Suna chick with the big-as fan was bad enough…
Poor Genma.
The Chidori screeched as Sasuke race down then across the ground. Neji calmly crouched down with one arm up and another by his feet, but his face was set in concentration. Messing up was not an option.
"Rotation!"
"Chidori!"
The lightning covered hand smashed into the spinning wall of blue chakra. The wall effortlessly kept the attack back, but the Chidori was powerful and stayed put. Everyone held their breath, their eyes wide in anticipation. The screeching upped in volume.
Then the area exploded.
Dust flew everywhere, and people coughed and spluttered, trying to see through the dust cloud. Eventually it settled, and everything was silent as people took in the sight.
A clean circle surrounded Neji, and Neji himself was posed almost as if he had never moved. Sasuke however… The Chidori wasn't self-sustaining, unlike the Rasengan, and used a lot of chakra. He couldn't supply enough chakra for the jutsu. As soon as the Chidori weakened, the ferocious spinning wall of chakra won, blowing Sasuke away.
He slammed into the stadium wall, about 3 metres up. Now he lay slumped against the wall, unmoving.
Neji slowly stood up, eyeing Sasuke warily. He looked around for Genma.
"I'm not done yet."
Everyone looked towards Sasuke, who was getting up slowly. His body was surrounded by dark purple chakra, and the strange marks spread from his neck, burning orange and red.
"You…"
The Sharingan blazed furiously as he looked up.
"Are dead!"
Sasuke disappeared, and Neji was lucky he had activated his Byakugan as soon as he saw him getting up. Neji jumped to the side and Sasuke slammed his heel into the ground he had been standing on.
Neji didn't even land when Sasuke charged again. Rotation pushed him back. Both fighters landed at the same time.
Neji got into a stance, different to Rotation.
Sasuke started charging.
"8 Trigrams, 64 Palms!"
The attack was too quick for Sasuke's Sharingan to follow, and as soon as the first one hit, he couldn't even attempt to block.
Fist after fist slammed into Sasuke in various places, each faster than the previous.
63, 64!
Bang!
Once again, Sasuke was blown back, slamming against the wall (about 2.5 metres to the left of where he previously hit).
He slid down, but this time he was moving, struggling to get up after the attack. The 8Trigrams 64 Palms had closed 64 of his chakra points, effectively sealing of the curse mark's chakra from spreading through Sasuke's body. Without chakra, chakra exhaustion quickly set in, and he fell forward, unconscious.
This time, Genma appeared and checked Sasuke's body.
"Uchiha Sasuke cannot fight any longer. Hyuga Neji is the winner."
The crowd cheered. Naruto rolled his eyes.
"I bet most had been cheering for Sasuke," he commented.
Kankuro looked at him. "Isn't he your teammate?"
Naruto looked at him as if he was incompetent. "Yes, he's my teammate. Why do you think I haven't insulted him yet?"
Naruto left him with a puzzled face on.
The medics appeared and carried Sasuke away. Neji breathed deeply. That fight had taken a lot out of him. He walked slowly back up to the stands.
"Nice one, Neji!" Naruto shouted eagerly as he came up.
"Hn," he replied and gladly sat in one of the seats.
"Could Uzumaki Naruto and Sabaku Gaara please come down."
Naruto turned to Gaara.
"I guess it's our turn."
Gaara nodded stiffly and descended the stairs, with Naruto following behind.
"Temari?"
"Yes, Kankuro?"
"Why is Gaara being so… uh… nice-ish to Naruto."
"I don't have a single clue."
-.-.-.-.-.-.-
Flashback~ (you know you love them)
Gaara sat on the roof, looking down of the lights littering the streets. It was close to 11 o'clock.
"I agreed to wait until the Chunin exam to kill you," he said suddenly.
Naruto sighed and sat down next to Gaara, who was silent, but glaring at Naruto.
"What are you doing?"
"Just trying to be friends with you."
It was silent for the next 10 minutes.
"Do you like being alone?" Naruto asked finally.
"…"
Naruto also stayed silent. Gaara stared at Naruto, and frowned. Why do I feel… like talking? I want to tell him… everything.
"I don't feel anything about being alone. I just am."
"But that's not fair."
"…"
"What about your brother and sister, don't you ever try to bond with them?"
"…They are scared of me."
"And why do you think that is?"
"…"
Gaara looked at Naruto closely. "Why are you talking to me?"
"Because I wanna be friends with you."
"Sure, I'll be friends with you."
Naruto stared wide eyed at Gaara.
"D-Did you just use… sarcasm?"
Gaara stared at him. "No."
"Holy crap you did it twice! Next thing I'll be seeing is you smiling!"
"Hn."
Silence.
"But, I really want you to consider being friends. Don't you just feel… I can't really explain it, but it's like… kinship?"
"…"
Yes, Gaara did feel that. Not that he was going to say that out loud.
"Why can't we be friends?" Naruto whined. He sounded like a child that had been denied sugar.
"Mother wants to kill you."
"Yeah, that would put a damper on things…"
"…"
"Gaara, don't worry about what Shukaku thinks. He wants to kill everyone. You can tell him I'm sorry for commanding you, but you were about to ruin my friend's life. I promise I won't do it again."
"…"
"So, do you want to be friends?"
Gaara wordlessly stood up and walked towards the edge of the roof.
"I still want to kill you…"
Naruto pouted.
"…but not as much."
Naruto beamed as Gaara disappeared.
It's progress, albeit slow progress.
End Flashback~
A/N: Yup, sorry, that's the end of this chapter. I didn't want to go into Gaara and Naruto's fight at the end of the chapter.
Buuuut, I also feel bad about only writing 6 pages, so I will be putting a special below! Read if you like, and review!
Fred(This short story is optional for you to read!)
Once upon a time, deep inside a mysterious forest, there lived an ant called Fred. He spent his days lazing around under the toadstool he called home.
He had on a straw hat and a small piece of straw in his mouth today, and he was lying against his home like he always did when he heard a voice.
Please, help me.
Fred looked up and around. There was no one around, but where did the voice come from?
Help me Fred!
Now he was freaked out. Not only did the mysterious voice know his name, it seemed as if it needed his help!
"Never talk to strangers, Fred!" he reprimanded himself.
I'm not a stranger, Fred! I know everyone in this forest. I am Tree.
Fred looked at the first tree he saw.
"Talking tree say whaaaa?" he shouted at his 'pee tree', where he frequently… you know…
No! I am not that tree! And I know what you do!
Fred flushed. Literally. His pee tree had a little toilet in its trunk.
Please focus, Fred! I am being hurt! Only you can save me!
Fred smiled. "Okay Tree, I'm bored with my life anyway. Where are you?"
Just follow the sound of my voice... Treeeeeeeeeeeeee.
Fred marched on, following the sound of Tree's treeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee. He munched on a blade of grass.
"Um, excuse me Tree."
Yes Fred?
"Can you, like, say something a little more interesting?"
Excuse me?
"Well, I've been hearing you just eeeeeeeing the entire time, how 'bout a song?"
…uh, okay… It's Friday, Friday. Gotta get down on-
"STOP! WHAT THE F#%^ %^&^*&* *&^%$^% WAS THAT! SING A DIFFERENT SONG!"
Hmm… Well you're a hot mess and I'm fallin' for you, and I'm like hot-
"What the heck is wrong with you! Don't you know any decent songs?"
Well… I've got a lovely bunch of coconuts!
"…You know what, just say tree…"
Okay! Treeeeeeeeeeeeee.
"Urgh…"
Fred kept walking, until he came across a small clearing. There stood Tree, in all its glory… of being run on by some ninja. The red wearing ninja had hideous pink hair, and she was running vertically up Tree, slashing Tree, then jumping down.
Please help me, Fred! She is killing me!
Fred summoned up all his courage and marched to the base of Tree, looking up at the running girl.
"EXCUSE ME! ME AND TREE WOULD LIKE YOU TO STOP- HOLY SHI-!"
Squish.
The end.
Don't worry, you'll be glad to know that Fred went to heaven, and Tree learnt a new song!
And I was like, baby, baby, baby, ohhh! Like, baby, baby, baby, nooo! Like baby, baby, baby, ohhh! I thought you'd always be mine, mine!
P.S. I do not own Friday, Hot Mess, that coconut song, or Baby. I'm sorry if I've offended anyone.
P.S.S. That brings it to about 8 pages! Not as much as the last chapter, but hopefully I can make the next chapter even longer ^^
-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-
Sneak preview~ (That will probably appear in the next chapter. Probably)
Gaara stared at him in silence, and the jounin shifted nervously under the blank stare.
"…No."
"…Excuse me?"
"I said no."
"Uh… no?"
Naruto butted in. "How many times does he have to say it! No means no!"