Chapter 96 Light and Lions

The sun rose over the demon feline capital as the stands where once again filling up as people prepared for the second to last day of the grand tournament. While there where two matches and four fighters fighting today almost everyone was focused on one match, that match was the last match of the day between Raeni Uchiha and the Queen of the Feline Kingdom Hinata. She had what was called the death position because she had the last match of the day and the women had no time to rest before the final round first thing the next morning. However there was still one match before that and that was between the demon fox fighter Sakura Haruno and the demon horse champion Kurotsuchi. Either way the winner of this match would make history. If Sakura won she would join Naruto being the first time in history that two foxes would be fighting for the championship and if Kurotsuchi won she would be only the fifth horse to reach the championship.

Naruto sat down in his chair along with the rest of his family and friends as the crowd began to make the noise that always came when large groups of people came together. Naruto looked over the arena which had changed once again. Now it was a mock up of a small village with one main street and dozens of side streets radiating off from it. Fake shops and stores were also set up to make it look more like a real village.

"They pulled out all the stops for this fight." stated Seth as Naruto's eyes widened as he realized what was before him. "What is it?"

"It's a recreation of the main market street in the Leaf village." explained Naruto

"It is well known that the tournament ground team has habit to change field designs based on who is fighting." explained Naruto's little brother "Makes it more interesting."

"In other words they like to mess with fighter's heads." growled Naruto as the announcers voice came over the loud speakers

"Welcome to the semi-finals of the women tournament which will see Sakura Haruno take on Kurotsuchi to see who will be the first to make it to the championship round." boomed the Announcer "Will it be the foxes or the horses in the championship; well we are going to find out soon."

The crowed got onto their feet as Sakura walked out of the underground followed a few seconds later by the black mare moved out of another underground tunnel. The two of them walked down the fake main street toward each other. Sakura quickly scanned the arena as she started to form a battle plan as she came to a stop a few feet away from Kurotsuchi. During the long war with the Akatsuki she had never fought along side Kurotsuchi so her only hint about her abilities came from what she saw in her earlier fight.

"Well I hate to say this it is hard to find a place which is more in favor of her abilities." thought Sakura as she looked at the wooden buildings all of which would easily caught fire and add to the intestacy of the fire.

"Then again lava is around 2,192 F the body can't stand that heat long, all we have to do is wait her out." thought Inner Sakura "Also she has been seeing Lee so we add the lave thing to physical strength to anything, we may need to use it."

"I don't really want to use that until the finals." answered Sakura

"Well we can't use it in the finals unless we use it now." explained Inner Sakuraas the referee explained the rules again.

"Alright." said Sakura

"Begin." ordered the Referee as Sakura jumped back as Kurotsuchi who too had jumped forward running though hand signs as she went. The moment she landed she slammed her hand into the ground.

"Lava style lava geyser!" yelled Kurotsuchi as the ground began to rumble a bit as five geysers of lava came shooting out of the ground all around her, the lava was forming a protective ring around Kurotsuchi as the lava began to spread out around her burning everything in its path. As the lava spread turning everything it touched into a giant ball of fire.

"Shit, I was hoping she would use that right off the bat." thought Sakura as the nearby fake house caught fire and fell down sending red hot embers into the air. Some of those flying embers landed on top of Sakura's arm burning her pink fur. Sakura turned her gaze toward Kurotsuchi who had positioned herself on top of a large steal flag pole which somehow had not been touched by the lava. Sakura looked down at the base of the pole only to see the ground untouched by the lava. "She must be using chakra to keep that area cleared and the pole so that she says above the heat….very cleaver."

Up in the stands Lee couldn't help but smile as he watched his lover fight against his long time former crush. He couldn't help but cheer against Sakura as he watched Kurotsuchi stand on top of that metal flag pole. He knew that she wasn't as big of fan of direct hand to hand combat as he was; she was more of the kind to form a trap and force her enemy to give up or die. She was the spider at the moment Sakura was the fly trapped in her web.

"Looks like she is going to win." said the horse next to him as he slapped him on the back. "All she has to do is stand there and wait for the lava to trap that little fox. That lava is way too hot to deal with just water."

"All she has to do is deal with the heat." noted Lee as he looked toward the other fighter.

Everyone watched as Sakura began to ripping down parts of a nearby house and began throwing pieces of lumber toward Kurotsuchi who was still standing on top of the pole. Kurotsuchi dodged the wild attacks the best she could without leaving the pole. The heat was so hot that if she dropped down off the pole she would likely sub come to the heat.

"You know you can't keep this up forever, sooner or later I will be out of your throwing range." stated Kurotsuchi as Sakura grabbed one of the wooden beams before throwing it with all her might. Kurotsuchi rolled her eyes at the coming attack as she prepared to duck. Suddenly a flash of light caused her to blink, when she reopened her eyes there was the pink vixen within a few feet of her face. She had no time to react as Sakura sent a chakra covered fist straight into Kurotsuchi face sending her flying off the pole heading straight toward the deadly lava below.

"Kurotsuchi!" yelled Lee as his heart and time seamed to stop as Kurotsuchi fell though the air. Suddenly there was another flash of light as Sakura appeared beside the falling Kurotsuchi. A second before they were both going to hit the lava, they both disappeared in yet a third flash of light this time reappearing outside the spread of the lava. The moment they reappeared Sakura dropped Kurotsuchi on the ground before dropping on one knee.

"You saved me?" asked Kurotsuchi as she sat up.

"You sound surprised." laughed Sakura as she stood back up

"How where you able to do that?" asked Kurotsuchi

"Thank my soon to be father-in-law." stated Sakura with a grin.

Flashback

Sakura and Naruto stood in one of the many training fields located outside the demon fox village.

"Alright why are we here?" asked Sakura as she looked at her future husband. "Because I thought we were going to do sole training today."

"We are." answered Naruto

"Well baka we can't do that together." explained Sakura

"Well I am going to do my own training but I arranged something for you." explained Naruto as Sakura raised an eye brow.

"What are you talking about?" asked Sakura as suddenly another figure appeared in the training field. She turned and looked at the figure only to instantly relax.

"Minato what are you doing here?" asked Sakura to her love's father.

"Well Naruto told me that your secondary chakra type is lightening." explained Minato with a grin as Sakura's eyes widened as she started to get what was happening "And since Naruto has no skills when it comes to lightening chakra I thought I would teach you a packs justu, since I can't teach it to him."

"Wait you can't be talking about that justu can you?" asked Sakura as Minato nodded his head.

"So what do you say Sakura care to learn the flying Thunder God Technique?" asked Minato

End Flashback

"So consider yourself lucky. Most people would have let you die." stated Sakura as she got into a stance as Kurotsuchi got onto a knee "But your luck ends here."

Then faster than Kurotsuchi could react Sakura bolted forward and punch Kurotsuchi in the head knocking her out. Kurotsuchi fell back to the ground out like a light, for a moment everyone waited to see if Kurotsuchi was really a clone or something else but after a while it became clear that the match had ended with a single blow.

"Winner and advancing to the Championship along with her mate-in-waiting is Sakura Haruno of the demon foxes." yelled the announcer as the crowed got onto their feet as teams rushed out to take care of the fighters, put out the fire and cool off the lava before the next match "The next match will see Raeni Uchiha of the demon wolves taking on Queen Hinata."

Up in the royal Box King Gamba quickly turned toward one of his main aid who was standing slightly behind the king.

"Find out everything we can about that justu and find a way for Hinata to beat it." ordered Gamba

"Yes, sir." responded the aid as he moved off to carry out his orders.

"Aren't you getting a little head of your my son?" asked Queen Mother Oda as she rocked the glass of wine in her hands "Hinata has to win first."

"True but I have faith in her." explained Gamba "And if I am wrong what harm is done? I would rather have it and not need it then need it and not have it."

"Never hurts to be safe." said Oda as she stood up "Now I am going to go get a drink."

"You do realize that it is only 10:30 mother in the morning." said Gamba

"I am the Queen Mother not Queen, I can drink all I want." explained Oda as Gamba shock his head at his mom's action.

A little bit over two hours later Naruto along with the rest of his pack where sitting around a large table located in one of the many food venders located around the stadium.

"So how does tomorrow work?" asked Sakura to Naruto's younger brother.

"Well yours and whoever you fight will go first at nine in the morning until there is a winner." explained Seth

"That early, I mean she just finished her match two hours ago." explained Naruto

"The last match is always the male champion." explained Seth

"Let me guess I can't watch the match." stated Naruto as he looked at Sakura "I want to be there for you."

"You will be." answered Minato

"But won't the fact I see the field give me an edge?" asked Naruto

"They change the field between the matches for the championship." added Seth as the waitress walked up and placed their food down.

"Thanks." said Naruto as he noticed a small note sticking out from under his plate; slowly he pulled out the note.

"What is that?" asked his mother as Naruto smiled as he read the note before handing it to Sakura who smiled as she read every word from the note.

"Looks like I have some extra help in the next match." explained Naruto with a smile.

It was just after two in the afternoon as spectators began filling in the stadium, this was the final match of the day and the last fight before the championship but it by far had the most meaning. The young she wolf Raeni Uchiha vs. the Queen of the Feline Kingdom Queen Hinata. It was a clash between dominate power in the demon world and the one who has tried and failed multiple times to take its place as the world's top power.

"Welcome to the last match of the semi final between the young Raeni Uchiha for the demon wolves vs. the Queen of the demon Felines and fighting for the Lions is Queen Hinata." yelled the announcer as the two fighters reached the center of the field.

"I have respect for you as a fighter but I am going to beat you within an inch of your life." growled Raeni as she glared at Hinata with her three comas Sharingan.

"I have respect for you to young wolf and maybe in time you could beat me but not today." answered Hinata as she closed her eyes and activated her Byakugan as the snake referee finished explaining the rules to the fighter.

"Begin." ordered the snake as Hinata lunched forward striking Raeni right arm and shoulder so fast with her gentle style. The blows caused Raeni to fall backwards holding her lifeless limp arm with her left arm.

"Nice blow but you haven't won yet." growled Raeni

"You can drop this part of that part of the genjustu." ordered Hinata as she put her hands over her chest as Raeni's eyes narrowed "I can tell that this form in front of me is genjustu."

"How did you know?" asked Raeni

"Genjustu can copy almost everything but there is one thing that can't be copied perfectly and that is the internal chakra network." Explained Hinata with a smile

"Chakra networks can be copied, baka." snapped Raeni "I thought you would know that given your sensei was an expert at Genjustu."

"And I thought you would know that while you can copy the basic structure of a chakra network no genjustu can copy all the small branches that come out of the main chakra channels." explained Hinata "By looking at you before the genjustu was activated and comparing it you now I can tell the difference between you and a genjustu."

"I see, not that it matters." stated Raeni with a grin as suddenly Hinata spun around only to grab a second Raeni by the neck.

"Because you think you have me from behind?" asked Hinata as her claws dug into Raeni's neck causing red blood to run down her neck dripping off Hinata's claws. "Now drop your genjustus and fight me."

"I don't think so." said Raeni as both copies of her disappeared only to be replaced with seven more "See I can strike at you from multiple directions and in time I will find a way past your Byakugan. I am a master of genjustu I can have time you don't."

"That is what you think." growled Hinata as showed her fangs before channeling a large amount of chakra into her fist, within moments the chakra surrounded her entire body causing all her air to stand on end. The chakra was so strong it caused the seven Raeni to step back and cover their faces from the wind. Suddenly Hinata slammed her hand on the ground as the chakra left her body forming seven large female chakra lions around her, slowly she stood up as the lions moved around her she extended her hands as she petted the lions as they circled Hinata "This is one of my new justus, since I can't summon anything I made my own. I believe you will find that they can do very fun."

"What does that mean?" asked the seven Raeni copies looked at the lions.

"Watch and learn." answered Hinata with a grin before looking at her four legged lions "attack."

Everyone's eyes widened as the seven lions lunged forward at each of the Raeni copies and began ripping out them by their throats.

"That did nothing." stated Raeni as 14 more copies of her appeared.

"Attack." ordered Hinata as once again the seven lionesses attacked the copies repeating the process as they tore the genjutu copies. The field was covered with blood as the chakra lioness returned to Hinata side as the seven of them began moving around her. "Is that all you have? Little wolfy?"

"Little Wolfy! You want to see what I have!" yelled Raeni as the rage built up within her as copies of herself surrounded Hinata ten rows deep with burst of flames shooting out from behind her "I am a Uchiha, I am a wolf and I will beat you within an inch of your life."

"Maybe if you stayed calmed you could have." answered Hinata as she pointed through the crowd of fake Raeni with her Byakugan locked on a single spot "Attack."

The seven lions lunged forward ripping though the copies until they attacked what looked like a simple woodened food cart. Suddenly the box began to change into Raeni as she fought with the seven chakra lions. Quickly one lioness bit down on her each of her arms and legs pinning her to the ground while another one jumped on top of her. Its chakra claws digging into her flesh as its fangs hovered just above her neck. The other two lions took positions by each of her ears ready to kill at a single command.

"Nice job Raeni." said Hinata as she appeared over the young wolf, as all her genjustu clones disappeared.

"How did you find me?" asked Raeni

"Simple, see the more complex the genjustu the more difficult it is to maintain." explained Hinata "With all your clones and fire you had to stretch your chakra to the limits allowing details to break down. Namely the shadow of your hiding place."

"What?" asked Raeni confused at the statement.

"Simply put while your hiding spot was perfect you failed to maintain the natural shadow that would appear." explained Hinata "If you had kept it simple you would have won in time but I pushed your buttons and you had to show that you where a true Uchiha."

"I am one." snapped Raeni

"I never said you weren't." added Hinata "I see a lot of your brother in you, the good one, the one I trust with my very life that is. If you keep working hard in time you will stand in the winner circle of a championship match

"Winner is Queen Hinata." grumbled the snake referee

"And we have a winner!" yelled the announcer as the crowd roared as Hinata snapped her fingers as the seven chakra lions disappeared.

"You really think next time I could make it to championship match?" asked Raeni

"No, I think next time you could win it all." answered Hinata as she offered her hand to the young wolf which Raeni took as Hinata helped her up "and if Kurenai-sensie is helping you that day will come sooner than even you expect."

"Thank you Queen Hinata." said Raeni

"You're welcome Raeni Uchiha." added Hinata with a smile as the two of them shook hands as the camera flashes filled the arena as the announcer started speaking again.

"The championship matches are set in the female tournament Queen Hinata of the demon felines will fight against Sakura Haruno of the demon foxes." said the announcer "And in the championship of the male tournament it will be Naruto Namikaze of the demon foxes taking on his old teammate Sasuke Uchiha of the Demon Snakes. All that will happen tomorrow starting at nine in the morning."

First I would like to say I am sorry for the delay in posting after I got back from vacation my friend let me borrow the first two seasons of a TV show and I have been watching them almost none stop in my free time. Now I won't say the show right out but let's just say "Winter is Coming" and see who guess which show it is first. I am sorry and I hope you forgive me. Now I know some people may roll their eyes and say it was predictable that I would have Hinata vs. Sakura and Naruto vs. Sasuke but I really want those four to fight and I feel most people want to see that fight. Now until next time please keep reading. Thanks Wilkins75