A/N I know that a lot of you are probably confused about what exactly happened during the war and how it ended. There's a reason I haven't mentioned it yet, or explained it. I will explain everything as the story goes on, but I can't just yet as it would ruin the plot. The ending I have will be very different to the real one, and it will be slightly crazy and very unbelievable. But hey, this is fanfiction. Once again, thank you for every single review and for even reading this story. It means a lot to me.
On with the story!
Sasuke closed his eyes and leant back against the wall. He was starting to get tired and the first round hadn't even finished! Dealing with Naruto for more than an hour could exhaust anyone other than Hinata. He opened his eyes again as a familiar chakra signature appeared in the box.
"Kakashi." he drawled "Where have you been?"
Naruto and Gaara noticed the intruder. Naruto turned around and glared at Kakashi.
"Hey! I've been looking for you for a whole month! You never stopped by my office and I had to deal with the council all by myself. Do you know what that did to me? I'd rather spend a week locked in a room with Sasuke than deal with the old crones!"
Sasuke ignored the small jibe. He focused on Kakashi, whose face was unreadable beneath the mask.
"I just wanted to make sure you saw the fruits of my labour."
Naruto looked completely confused.
"Eh, Kakashi-sensei, you can't go into labour. What are you talking about?"
Kakashi sighed, Sasuke rolled his eyes and even Gaara sweat-dropped.
"Dobe, he means that kid he's been training." Sasuke looked down at the small, dark haired boy. He looked a lot like a young Itachi.
"Oh, right. I forgot you were teaching Konahamaru's student. Is he good?"
Kakashi nodded.
"I've taught him a few Water Style jutsu and he's a natural at Fire Style. He knew every single Fire Style justu I could think of."
Sasuke smirked.
"Don't you think you're over exaggerating a bit? It's not like he knows Itachi's special Fire Style jutsu."
"Actually," said Kakashi casually "He does."
Sasuke whirled around to face his ex-sensei, sharingan eyes spinning.
"What do you mean he knows Itachi's jutsu? That's impossible! He's not even from this village!"
Kakashi shrugged.
"Apparently, a wandering shinobi taught him some techniques. He said he came up with Itachi's jutsu on his own."
"And you believed that?" Sasuke snarled, turning around to look at the boy. From this distance, the boy seemed like an ordinary shinobi. What's he hiding?
Kakashi shrugged again.
"It seemed like the only explanation. Itachi never taught anyone that jutsu and the only people with a clue how to do it are me, you Naruto and… her. He has a lot of talent so coming up with it on his own seemed reasonable enough to me."
Sasuke was in full-blown police mode now. Something wasn't right here.
"This mystery shinobi who taught him the techniques. Could it have been her?"
Kakashi shook his head.
"Nawaki described him as a middle-aged man who was retired and from Iwa. It wasn't her; otherwise he would have said something. Pink hair isn't exactly a normal trait."
"She could have used a henge." Sasuke argued. He wasn't sure how much he trusted Nawaki. Naruto was far too easy to convince, and Kakashi seemed slightly too relaxed about this.
"Nawaki said that the man lived in his village for years. She… Sakura wouldn't have stayed in disguise for that long."
Sasuke spared a second from scrutinizing Nawaki to glare at Kakashi. Sakura's name was taboo around him and Naruto. Sasuke had tried to convince himself that it was for Naruto's sake and not his.
Naruto rolled his eyes at Sasuke.
"Relax teme, the kids done nothing wrong. His entire village was slaughtered and I offered him a place to live. What's wrong with that? According to Konahamaru he's talented but not amazing enough to be suspicious about. According to Hisa, he's annoying but she thinks everyone's annoying, even me."
"I wonder how anyone could possibly find you annoying." Sasuke muttered.
Everyone, even Gaara, was staring at him. He knew he was overreacting but something about Nawaki made him suspicious. Maybe it was the resemblance to Itachi on top of the Fire Style jutsu. Either way, Sasuke wasn't ready to let this go just yet.
For now, he would just sit and watch. He would judge Nawaki's abilities from the match, and possibly have the boy followed later.
!
Nawaki shook hands quickly with Lu. Shikamaru declared the start of the match and the two of them faced off.
Nawaki was the first to make a move. He needed Lu to attack him if his plan was going to work. Nawaki quickly made the hand-seals.
"Katon: Gokakyu no Jutsu!"
A huge fireball rolled across the field, heading straight for Lu. Nawaki didn't bother looking to see if it had hit Lu. No one ever got hit by a fireball. Nawaki focused on making another seal.
Lu jumped over the fireball and ran at Nawaki. His foot whirled around and struck Nawaki straight in the head. For a second, Lu looked triumphant. Then Nawaki dissolved into a puddle of water.
"A water clone!" Lu looked around but it was too late.
Nawaki's foot came flying towards him and connected with his head. Lu was sent flying across the field, landing in a heap. Nawaki grinned. Lu was down and he wouldn't be getting back up soon. No one could be perfectly fine after getting a kick to the head.
!
Hisa groaned loudly as she watched Nawaki stand there.
"That idiot." she muttered.
"What's wrong?" Oki asked, eyeing Nawaki nervously.
"He's underestimating Lu. Look at him, he thinks that one kick was good enough. If he keeps this up he's going to lose."
Oki looked at her, confused.
"But that kick was pretty strong. If I got kicked like that I'd probably be unconscious."
Hisa shook her head.
"Lu's been training with Lee, the best taijutsu user in Konoha. One kick isn't going to cut it. Plus, Lu has another advantage. He's the underdog, and you know the number one rule in Konoha about underdogs."
Oki nodded.
"Never underestimate them."
"Exactly. That's what Nawaki's doing right now. If he doesn't take this fight more seriously, he's going to lose."
!
Nawaki grinned triumphantly. Lu was down, and there was no way he was getting back up. Nawaki had won. He heard the crowd begin to cheer and grinned wider. He imagined his mother's face, filled with pride at her son's achive-
The kick came out of nowhere. One second he was standing there. The next second he was being slammed into the wall. It hurt badly, but the pain in the back of his head was worse.
Nawaki pushed himself off the ground and looked around. Where was Lu?
Lu was standing in the middle of the field, in the classic taijutsu ready stance. Nawaki's head was spinning slightly but Lu couldn't be much better. He decided to end this fight now. He had underestimated Lu's endurance, this time he's finish it for good.
!
Hisa groaned again.
"No! No! NO! Why is he rushing at Lu like that? Does he think that Lu won't fight as good because of that one kick? Stop it Nawaki! Stop using taijutsu!"
!
Nawaki ran straight at Lu. He knew Lu was brilliant at taijutsu, but they had both suffered blows to the head. Surely Lu wouldn't be completely fine after that?
Nawaki aimed a punch at Lu's head. Lu disappeared.
Nawaki looked around wildly. How had Lu moved that fast? Where had he gone? He looked up just in time to see Lu's kick coming straight at his head.
"Leaf Hurricane!"
Nawaki barely dodged the first kick aimed at his head. The second kick was too fast to dodge, so he raised both his hands to block it. Lu's kick hit his arms. Nawaki struggled to keep his arms in place. Suddenly, he remembered Lu's second foot. But it was too late.
The kick hit him straight in the cheek. Nawaki was sent flying backwards, hitting the ground heavily. He lay there for a minute, trying to gather his thoughts. How was Lu this good? Nawaki had never seen taijutsu like this. He had heard stories from his mother about Rock Lee, but he had never imagined that people could move this fast or kick this hard. Taijutsu wouldn't work here. If he was going to beat Lu, he needed to hit him with ninjutsu.
Nawaki got to his feet again. Lu was standing in the middle of the field, once again in his taijutsu stance. This time, Nawaki didn't rush at him. He clapped his hands together in a seal.
"Water Style: Water Bomb Jutsu!"
A torrent of water began to pour out of Nawaki's mouth. It rushed straight at Lu like a giant tidal wave. He heard the spectators ooh and aah. Once the water had turned the field into a small lake, Nawaki pushed his chakra to his feet and began to water-walk. He knew Lu couldn't water-walk and the water was surrounding Lu's ankles. It mixed with the earth and became a mud-hole. It would be almost impossible for Lu to tug his feet out.
He ran straight at Lu. This time, he was certain Lu couldn't kick him. The strength needed to pull your legs out of quicksand-like mud was more than most adult shinobi had. This time-
This time, the blow was to his chin, not his cheek. Nawaki heard gasps coming from the audience but he was too busy trying to figure out what had just happened. He had ran at Lu, aimed a punch and then…? Lu had kicked him hard in the chin and sent him flying backwards. Nawaki crashed onto the ground once again, although the water eased his fall this time. How had Lu done that? Nawaki was beginning to realize that he knew nothing about Lu. He had attacked thinking he knew all Lu's strengths and weaknesses. He had not taken any time to analyse Lu and now, he was paying the price.
As he stood up, Lu rushed at him again. Nawaki had no time to think of a plan before Lu was attacking him again. Lu's kicks were so fast Nawaki's sharingan almost activated. All Nawaki could do was dodge. If Lu managed to land a kick on him, it was over.
!
Hisa sighed.
"It's over. Nawaki can't get out of there and he can't keep dodging Lu's kicks forever. Unless Lu suddenly collapses or Nawaki suddenly comes up with a miracle plan, he's doomed."
"Don't say that!" Oki said from beside her "He's Nawaki, he'll think of something."
Hisa really wished she could believe Oki, but looking down at the match, it just didn't seem possible.
!
One. Two. Three. Three kicks aimed at his head. Nawaki dodged each one, eyes desperately trying to find Lu and predict his next moves. Nawaki was getting frustrated. As well as having to dodge Lu's kicks, he now had to try and control the sharingan. Every time Lu moved too fast for Nawaki's normal eyes to trace, his sharingan would try and activate. It was distracting, too distracting.
Lu aimed a punch at Nawaki's head which he blocked with one arm. For a minute they struggled, Lu trying to break Nawaki's defense, Nawaki trying to keep Lu from doing that. Their eyes locked for a second. Nawaki was surprised to see how intense Lu's gaze was. What had Hisa said? In the end, it all comes down to who wants it more. Right now, Lu wanted it more.
Lu twisted suddenly, pushing Nawaki's arm over his head. Lu's elbow slammed into Nawaki's stomach. Nawaki choked, winded badly. He stumbled backwards, clutching his aching stomach. His chakra reserves were beginning to dip. He wasn't sure how much more he could stand. He was no longer thinking about how to win the match. Now it was simply about trying not to lose. He had to keep away from Lu.
Lu was once again in his taijutsu stance. This time, he didn't wait for Nawaki to attack. One second he was in the middle of the field, then he appeared behind Nawaki. He's too fast. Nawaki swung his fist behind him, trying to hit Lu. Lu simply jumped backwards, easily avoiding the blow.
This was it. This was Nawaki's last stand. If he got hit here, he wouldn't be getting back up. He needed to hit Lu hard and fast, to wear him down. But how could he do that? His chakra was too low for another ninjutsu. His only options were to use his sharingan or to use taijutsu. In the end, he chose taijutsu. Even if he lost, he would still be allowed stay in the village. His secret would still be safe. As much as he wanted to win, he wasn't going to betray his mother.
He ran straight at Lu, aiming two punches for his head. Lu dodged each one effortlessly. Nawaki tried a kick but Lu dodged that too. He didn't even look tired. Lu calmly raised his foot, and Nawaki knew it was over.
He raised his hands to block his face. But just like before, Lu broke through his defence. Nawaki couldn't help but yell as Lu's foot connected with his already sore jaw. Nawaki was sent flying. Lu followed him up into the air. He grabbed Nawaki's shoulders, and slammed him headfirst into the ground. Pain exploded inside Nawaki's head, and bright lights flashed in front of his eyes. He collapsed on the ground, breathing heavily.
Tears appeared in his eyes, but he blinked them away. He would not cry, not now. Even as Shikamaru declared Lu the winner, Nawaki did not cry. His parents were watching him, and he had just failed. The only thing left to do was accept defeat.
He had lost.
!
Sasuke turned away from the match. The boy was good, but he wasn't good enough. There was no need to send someone to follow him.
"I have to say Kakashi," he said "I expected more from him. Where were all the fancy techniques you said he had? All I saw were a few basic water and fire style jutsu's."
Kakashi's look made Sasuke feel slightly uncomfortable.
"He's seven years old, Sasuke. Could you do any of those jutsu at his age?"
Sasuke shrugged.
"All I'm saying is that you were right. There's no need to care about the boy, he's not special."
Kakashi turned away from Sasuke, but Sasuke could sense that he was disappointed. But the strange thing was, he didn't seem to be disappointed in Nawaki. He was acting like he was disappointed in Sasuke.
It made no sense to Sasuke, so he turned away from the boy lying in the centre of the field. Soon, he would forget about the entire match.