Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or The Last Airbender.
Bodyguard of Azula
Chapter 39: Being ready and Being watched
"Talking"
"Thinking"
"Bijū/spirit talking"
"Bijū/spirit thinking"
(Location: Konoha)
The quite noticeable absence of Naruto began to stir up the crowd. He was the reason most of the people there had come. They wanted to see him in combat; the others were just second fiddles. But now, all they had were said fiddles.
"Where the hell is he?!" demanded Kiba. "Most of the people came here to see him!"
"If he doesn't want to show up, that is his choice," Azula told him curtly. Everyone looked at her. "What?"
"Uh…did something happen with you and Naruto?" Katara asked hesitantly.
"Are you him?" she asked back, more irritated then curt now.
"No."
"Then don't butt in on things you don't know about."
Katara winced from the snap. "Okay, okay, sorry," the Waterbender apologized.
The Kages were wondering the same thing. "Where is that brat?" Ōnoki asked.
"I don't know, but let's get this Exam started," said A. He may've come to see the Jinchūriki, but they couldn't afford to wait around for him.
"Should we not wait for him?" Mei suggested.
"He is just one person. There are five others who are waiting to fight."
"He's right," Tsunade declared as she stood up. She walked to the banister. "Welcome, everyone," she said, projecting her voice and getting the attention of everyone there. "Thank you for coming to Konoha for the Chūnin Exams. We will now begin the final Exam. We also ask you not to leave the arena until all the matches are done. Now then, enjoy yourselves."
When he heard that, the proctor, Genma Shiranui, turned to the five on the field. "Alright, listen up," he said. "There are no rules in these fights. The match will go on until one of the fighters is dead or claims defeat. If I say a match is over, I will step in and stop it, no arguments. Are there any questions?" No one said a word. "In that case, everybody except for Sokka and Suigetsu head to the waiting area."
Karin and Jūgo started to walk away while Zuko looked at Sokka's hood-covered face. "You ready?" he asked the Tribesman.
"Of course, I am," he answered. He looked at the wolf next to him. "Akela, go with him." Akela gave him a pointed look. "I'll be fine. Besides, do you really want to attack a guy who can turn into water? He might give you an impromptu bath." He winced and finally nodded, padding over to Zuko.
"This might be an interesting match," Kisame said. The Akatsuki had a private booth, allowing them to talk freely. He and the rest of the Akatsuki were standing around Konan, who was the only person sitting.
"What makes you say that hm?" Deidara, a former Iwa shinobi with long blonde hair done up in a half ponytail and with a bang covering his left eye, asked.
"We don't know much about his abilities, but he was a realist who knew that people had to die that day. I would say that since we last saw him, he's changed a lot," Itachi explained, though his eyes remained on Sokka. "I suspect that someone must have trained him, which explains why we see a different demeanor in him."
"On the other hand, Suigetsu is the younger brother of Mangetsu Hōzuki," Kisame pointed out.
"And how is that relevant?" Kakuzu, a tall man with a white hood and a black mask covering his head, leaving his green eyes visible, asked.
"Mangetsu was one of the few members of the Seven Swordsmen I know of that had mastered all seven of the blades, even Samehada, who is quite picky when to wielders," he explained. "It'll be interesting to see if his younger brother has even half of his talent."
"Man, I can't believe I'm fighting you," Suigetsu complained as he stood in front of his opponent. "I wanted to fight Uzumaki."
"Why? You'd get a longer fight with me," Sokka told him.
"Are you stupid? You'd think I'd be able to beat him that easily?"
"Actually, the way the three of us figured it out, he'd beat you in five seconds."
"What did you say?" he snarled.
"You heard me. Or did you forget what he did do your head?"
He reached for the Kubikiribōchō. "Alright, that's it. Let's fight!"
"In that case, begin!" Genma ordered before stepping back.
Suigetsu charged forward, swinging the Kubikiribōchō. "I'm gonna slice your head off!" he declared, swinging the giant blade down.
"You'd think I'm gonna let that happen?" Sokka remarked. With a quick speed, he pulled out his club and swatted the sword aside. Suigetsu was surprised, almost falling thanks to the momentum. But he regained his balance and turned into a spin, swinging the Kubikiribōchō in a circle.
Sokka stepped back to avoid the strike. His opponent pressed forward, keeping the sword moving. "What's the matter?" he asked. "Not going to fight back?"
Sokka stopped, ducked under the swing of the blade, and then swung his club upwards. It struck Suigetsu in the stomach, causing water to splash out. He withdrew the club before he lost his grip. "A blunt instrument against him won't do any good and I can't pull out my jian or my boomerang until I'm certain he's shown all the moves he knows with the Kubikiribōchō," he analyzed the situation. "Well, I'll have to make do."
"Why hasn't Sokka attacked?" Aang asked as he watched his friend avoid Suigetsu's strikes. "I thought he would've charged straight in and attacked."
"He might have, if I didn't beat it out of his head," Jiraiya's voice spoke next to all of them. He was standing on the stairs.
"Lord Jiraiya? I thought you were protecting Lady Tsunade," Tenten said, surprised to see him standing there.
"Oh, I am, but the one up there is just a clone." He gestured briefly with a hand up to the Kage box to emphasize his point. "I figured that I keep an eye on you guys."
"We are perfectly capable of protecting ourselves, Lord Jiraiya," Shino told him.
"I meant them." He looked at Aang and the others. "I'm here to make sure they don't do anything stupid."
"How wonderful, somebody to keep an eye on us because they think we might do something," Toph said sarcastically from where she lounged in the seat. If she could see, her feet would've been up. But she wasn't and they were planted firmly on the ground.
"Sorry, it's just a precaution."
"Whatever."
"So why isn't Sokka attacking?" Suki asked the Toad Sage, getting his attention while the battle went on below. Her sight was trying both to look at the old man and her boyfriend at the same time. It wasn't working like she wanted.
"If he had, the match wouldn't have lasted long," he explained. "He is smart and tries to keep a cool head in the middle of a fight, but he just attacked. His analyzing skills were virtually nonexistent and that can get him killed. So, I took some time and taught him how to analyze an opponent."
Sokka kept his club close as Suigetsu kept on attacking. Every time the sword got close; he would knock it away. He kept dodging and evading, infuriating Suigetsu. "Come on, fight back!" he shouted.
"I'll fight when I want to," the Tribesman replied. This only infuriated him more. He let out an angry shout and pressed forward. He kept swinging, trying to cut him. Sokka would keep on blocking and deflecting.
Then he did something unexpected. He suddenly charged forward, hammering away at Suigetsu with the club. Suigetsu was caught off-guard and found using Kubikiribōchō to block. Suddenly the battle's direction had changed. Sokka was leading, pushing his opponent back.
And that wasn't all he was doing. "He can use the sword as a shield," he noted. "Now to figure out if it will stay in that one position, or if he'll move it to accommodate." He tried to attack from every possible angle. Suigetsu kept using the sword as a shield, but always kept it in the same position. Sure, he would move it to block a strike from a different angle, but the handle always stayed closed to his head while the blade pointed downwards. Sokka didn't relent in his assualt "I have to keep going. He could be deceiving me. I have to be sure!"
"What's up with this guy?" Suigetsu asked himself. "One minute, he's avoiding my strikes and the next, he trying to pound me into the ground." He did his best to block the assault. He also watched his opponent. "Hang on…there! Every time he attacks, he steps forward, lifting his foot off the ground." If he timed it right, he could use Kubikiribōchō to trip him. Once the chance appeared he quickly slid Kubikiribōchō underneath Sokka's foot, making it land in the middle of the circle. He smirked and yanked the blade up.
Sokka's foot got caught and so, by extension, was he. He fell to the ground, crashing hard. The club flew out of his hand, landing a good distance away from him. "Okay, I probably pushed it too far," he thought. On the other hand, now he knew Suigetsu can do that.
"Well, it seems that you finally began to fight back," Suigetsu said. "Pity I have to end it though; I was starting to have fun." He stuck the Kubikiribōchō into the ground, flashed through handseals and then pointed his right hand at Sokka, folding every finger except for his index finger and thumb. "Suiton: Mizudeppō no Jutsu (Water Style: Water Gun Jutsu)!"
A small amount of water compressed itself onto the tip of the finger and fired itself at Sokka. He rolled out of the way and the water struck the ground. He quickly stood up but jumped back as Suigetsu fired off another round of water. "Oh, do you want to dance?" he asked Sokka. "Then let's dance!"
"That was the Mizudeppō no Jutsu!" Ao said with surprise as he watched the jutsu being used repeatedly.
"Bu-but I thought only members of the Hōzuki clan could do that jutsu," Chōjūrō protested.
"Well, it seems that brat is member of that clan," Ōnoki remarked. "I can actually see the Nidaime Mizukage in him."
"I take it that's not a good thing, old man." Kurotsuchi asked her leader with a slight teasing tone.
He ignored the tone. "I hated that man. I was quite glad when he was killed." He had celebrated when he heard the news. Then he mourned his teacher, who had killed and was killed by the same man.
"But the question remains, Lord Ōnoki, what is a member of the Hōzuki clan doing with Kusa?" Mei asked him.
"That is, if the team is from Kusa after all," Tsunade remarked, getting the attention of everyone there.
"Where else could they be from?" Chōjūrō asked. No one answered him.
Sokka was running around, trying to dodge for all his worth. The small balls of water kept missing him by mere inches. And yet, the odd thing was that Suigetsu wasn't getting angry at continually missing him. If anything, he was looking more and more happy.
"This is so much fun!" he declared with an almost maniacal grin. "Are you getting frustrated now?"
"Actually, I've faced worse," Sokka replied, keeping himself in control. "Is this all you've got?"
"No. I have more." He brought up his left hand and started to fire water from that one as well. The amount of water coming at him had been doubled as well as the rate it was coming at him.
"I had to open my mouth," the Tribesman cursed himself.
"He had to open his mouth," Jiraiya said with a sigh.
"You've been training him for a month, and you're surprised when he does that?" Toph asked.
"No, I was just hoping he wouldn't do it during the middle of the fight."
"What I want to know is how that guy is Waterbending," Aang said, pointing at Suigetsu. "I thought he was a shinobi, not a Bender."
"He's not Waterbending. He's using the Mizudeppō no Jutsu, which can only be used by the Hōzuki clan of Kirigakure," the Toad Sage explained.
"Why can only they use it?" Katara asked him. It seemed easy to duplicate, but she would have to practice seeing if she could.
"That clan has the ability to completely liquefy their bodies. It's called the Suika no Jutsu (Hydrification Jutsu). When they use this jutsu, anything but an air-tight container can't hold them. The only downside we know of is that they are vulnerable to Raiton (Lightning Style) Ninjutsu."
"Or probably just plain lightning," Azula remarked shortly. "Besides, if he can turn his body into water, then that means a Waterbender can defeat him easily."
He regarded her for a moment. She seemed more concerned about the fight than him. "Well, that's possible, I suppose," he admitted. "But we've never had a Waterbender in the Chūnin Exams."
"Well now, that is quite interesting," Kisame said with a grin as he watched the fight.
"What makes you say that, Kisame?" Tobi, a member whose face was covered by a spiral-patterned orange mask with a hole showing his right eye, asked him.
"Not a single member of the Hōzuki clan I knew could use the Mizudeppō no Jutsu dual-handed."
"Seems easy enough, hm," Deidara noted.
"Actually, it takes a good amount of concentration to fire off a round. The fact that Suigetsu can do it with both hands, at the same time and such a rapid rate is quite impressive."
Sokka was running circles around Suigetsu, dodging every piece of water shot at him. "I did not endure that hell of a month just to be killed by water!" he swore to himself. "If I ever let that happen, it'll because I pissed off Katara!"
Suigetsu wanted to keep up the jutsu going, but the effects were already getting to him. The rate of fire began to slow down until it finally died. Sokka stopped where he stood and saw Suigetsu panting for breath. "You're out of energy already?" he asked.
"Something along those lines," he answered. "Fortunately, I know how to get it back and keep you in the dark." He flashed through a different set of handseals, raised his right hand to his mouth in a half seal, and raised his left hand over his head. "Suiton: Kirigakure no Jutsu (Water Style: Hiding in Mist Jutsu)," he said, spewing out white mist.
The arena began to be thick with the stuff. Sokka couldn't see anything past his own hand.
"I was beginning to wonder when he'd bring that out," Kisame said as he watched the mist thicken.
"So, he can use it as well," Itachi noted.
"The kid was well on his way to becoming a member of the Swordsmen when I left," he told his partner. "Learning that jutsu is mandatory. Besides, he needs to rejuvenate himself and the mist gives him the perfect cover."
"What do you mean?" Kakuzu asked.
"A downside of using the Suika no Jutsu is that the user has to stay hydrated at all times. The kid figured that if he tried to drink water in the open, Sokka would've pounced on the chance to attack him. So, he gave himself some cover," he explained, still keeping his eyes on the field.
"So, he brought in the Kirigakure no Jutsu," Neji stated. "That might cause problems for Sokka." The mist had thicken to the point he couldn't see where the combatants where. All they had to go on was their hearing.
"What makes you say that?" Katara asked.
"The Kirigakure no Jutsu is a famous jutsu from Kiri," Jiraiya explained for her. "As you can see, it covers an area in mist, hiding the user from his opponents. The thickness of the mist is determined by much chakra was put into it. This jutsu can go hand-in-hand with the technique to silently kill."
"Silently kill?" Aang repeated with a worried look.
He nodded. "Masters of Silent Killing can use the mist to sneak up to the opponents and kill them without them ever realizing it."
"Is Sokka going to be all right?" Suki asked, feeling very worried about Sokka now.
"I guess it all depends on whether that Suigetsu kid is a master of Silent Killing or not."
"We've seen that technique before," Azula commented as her eye was locked on the mist, before glaring at the section where the Akatsuki members sat. "I believe it was that ugly looking swordsman who used it."
"You mean Kisame?" Jiraiya asked the former princess, to which she nodded.
Suigetsu had managed to drink the amount of water needed and was now hunting Sokka down. He wasn't a master of Silent Killing, so his footsteps made noise as he walked slowly through the mist which, in his opinion made it feel worse. "Hah, he's probably pissing himself right about now," he thought with glee. "Only hearing footsteps, not knowing where I am. He must be completely and utterly terrified."
He soon saw the cloak he wore, standing in the mist. "And now, I've gotcha!" He swung the Kubikiribōchō down, intending to cleave him in two.
The blade met no resistance as it met the cloak. It was simply cut in two. But as the remains fell to the ground, there was no blood or even a body. "What?" he said in surprise.
"What do you know? That stick did come in handy," Sokka's voice said from inside the mist.
"Where are you?" he demanded, turning to the direction where the voice was coming from.
"Do you honestly think I'm going to tell you?"
"How did you know I was coming for you?"
"It was painfully obvious. The sound of your feet on the ground was a dead giveaway. You thought I was terrified of that sound, weren't you?" The sound of laughter echoed throughout the mist. "There are things I'm more afraid of then ominous footsteps in mist and one of them is a giant owl librarian." The voice came from a different spot in the mist.
"Come out here!" Suigetsu demanded, swinging the sword around.
"Out where? We're in the middle of a mist." Again, the voice came from a different place.
He quickly canceled the jutsu, letting the mist fade away. The only problem was he still didn't see him. "Where the hell are you!?" he yelled.
"I'm right behind you, moron," He turned around and looked at his enemy. What he saw was not what he was expecting.
Sokka stood across from him. He wore his armor that Sifu had changed for him. Strapped to his back was both the sheath for his boomerang and his jian, crisscrossing each other. He didn't wear the helmet. He didn't need to. He had painted his face the same way he did when Zuko had come to the South Pole looking for Aang. While he had looked serious with it on before, seasoned warriors would've been able to tell he didn't have the experience to back up the look. Now he did and that made the look even more intimidating.
"Isn't that the stuff he wore back at the South Pole?" Aang asked.
"Yeah, it is," Katara answered.
"It looks scarier now." Looking at his friend now sent a small chill up the Avatar's spine.
"Sokka does not look youthful at all!" Lee declared.
"Troublesome," Shikamaru muttered. "It's not about being youthful, Lee. It's about making your opponent nervous."
"Very good, Shikamaru," Jiraiya told him. "You know, Sokka reminds me of you, just without the laziness." Once they heard those words, everyone started to see the similarities between the two of them.
"You know, he's got a point," Ino agreed.
"I wonder who would win in a game of strategy," Chōji said. That would be very interesting to find out.
"It's too troublesome to figure out now," their teammate told the two of them.
"That's your answer to everything!" Kiba objected.
"But in this case, he would be right," Neji said. Sokka was currently fighting. They couldn't stop the fight to find out if he could match Shikamaru on a Shogi board.
"What I want to know is how he can do that thing with his voice," Toph said.
"He could throw his voice around like that since we were kids," Katara told her. "He often did it to annoy me. It's also why no one wanted to play hide-an-go-seek with him."
"Is all of that supposed to scare me?" Suigetsu asked, trying to act like his entire appearance didn't unnerve him. Sokka didn't say anything. He just looked at him like he was measuring his worth. "If you're not going to do anything, then I'll make you do something!" He raised the Kubikiribōchō above his head.
Sokka's hand blurred as he threw the boomerang. It sliced through Suigetsu's left arm, turning into a jelly-like substance. The boomerang curved back around and sliced through his right arm, turning it into the same substance. While his opponent screamed in pain, he just caught the boomerang and put it away. "Seems like your arms stay attached even after they've been sliced through," he remarked. "Pity, I guess Naruto's kick was just luck."
"You think you'll be able to beat me that easily!?" Suigestu screamed as his arms returned to normal.
"I don't know." He drew his jian and took a Waterbending stance. "Care to find out?" He waited as his opponent charged at him. When the Kubikiribōchō was swung at his head, he lifted the jian in a defensive position. The blades met and, in that moment, he pushed the Kubikiribōchō up and away, then brought his own sword down in a slice.
Suigetsu stepped back and only got his shirt sliced. He turned into a spin and swung his sword at his opponent's side. Sokka swung to meet it, blocking the sword with the side of his jian. He quickly leapt onto the Kubikiribōchō itself and slashed at his head. He ducked his head to avoid the slash and jerked the blade down, trying to get Sokka fall. His response was to jump off of it in a backflip and land a good distance away from him.
Quickly looking down, he noticed that he had landed right next to the club. "Well, that's useful," he remarked.
"What is?" Suigetsu asked as he charged forward.
"This." He got his foot underneath the club's handle and kicked up in the air, catching it with his free hand. He stood ready, dual-wielding weapons.
"Is that supposed to make me nervous?" He swung his blade high, intending to once again to slice him in half.
Sokka stopped the blade by hitting the tip with the jian's. He took a step forward, swinging the club at Suigetsu's midsection. Instead of hearing the sound of it hitting flesh, it hit water, splashing it all over the place. He pulled the jian away from the Kubikiribōchō and stabbed directly at his shoulder. Suigetsu moved his blade in front of him, blocking the thrust.
"So, he can use hold it in other defensive positions, he just tried not to show it," Sokka noted before twisting to the side. Yanking the club out of Suigetsu, he swung at the back of his head.
Without even looking back, Suigetsu reached out behind him and grabbed the club. He pulled it around the side, bringing Sokka back to his front. Releasing his grip to hold Kubikiribōchō with both hands, he tried to stab him through the stomach. However, releasing his hold on the club proved to be a mistake.
Sokka stopped the sword with the jian, then using the hooked end of the club to take hold of the Kubikiribōchō via its hole. Pulling hard, he yanked it out of Suigetsu's hands and sent it flying away in the air. It hit the ground with the tip, causing it to stick to the ground.
He tried to stab his opponent in the chest, but Suigetsu avoided it by taking a step to the side. "I need to get Kubikiribōchō back!" he thought in a panic. He tried running past him. Sokka turned low in a half-circle, sweeping his foot underneath his feet. He tripped and began to fall. The club hit his back hard. Even though water sprayed everywhere, he could still feel pain. He tried to move, but only succeeded in lifting his hands. That was enough to bring back the mist.
Sokka jumped back once the mist thicken. He sheathed his jian and placed his club on his side. Grabbing a long cloth from a pocuh, he wrapped it around his eyes. Then he slammed his foot into the ground before turning around and making himself look vulnerable. Suigetsu didn't know what his opponent was thinking. He was just glad for the opportunity.
Immediately, he leapt the Kubikiribocho and swung it towards Sokka. The Water Paragon drew his weapons fast and blocked the strike. Suigetsu was stunned. Then he got mad. "How the hell can you sense me? Your eyes aren't even open!" he yelled.
Sokka simply ignored him and swung his foot in an attempt to trip him. Suigetsu avoided the attempt and lunged at him swinging. His opponent leaned out of the way, barely avoiding getting stabbed.
Katara was surprised. She didn't know that her brother could do that! Then she saw Aang's smile. It was the smile he got when he was happy one of his friends figured something out. "Aang, what did you teach Sokka?" she asked.
Aang glanced her way. "He asked me how an Airbender moves a couple of times. I told him that an Airbender would move like a leaf in the wind. Be the leaf, and you'll change your stance and your arms as you feel the flow." Sokka apparently took that to heart.
"That explains why he kept gazing at falling leaves whenever we were in the Earth Kingdom." He would get so focused on it, she had to hit him a couple of times, so he won't zone out.
"With Aang being the last Airbender, it's hard to find anyone who would teach the Paragons some Airbending stances," Suki said sadly, to which both Aang and Katara nodded in agreement.
Zuko noticed how Sokka would occasionally stomp his feet as he fought. "And I guess someone taught him that as well?" he said, looking at the sole Earthbender amongst them.
Toph simply raised her hand up. "I did recall giving my story to everyone back in the Western Air Temple about how the badgermoles were the original Earthbenders. There was more to that story than just how I learned to Earthbend."
"Let me guess: they learned seismic sense as well?" Zuko asked. She nodded.
Meanwhile, Suigetsu started to swing the Kubikiribocho at Sokka wildly, but Sokka didn't react as he had hoped. Instead, he continued to lean this way and that, all the while keeping his feet planted. It was irritating, not to mention grating on his nerves. When was he going to fight back?
He got his answer when he swung again. This time, Sokka leapt out of the way. He pulled out a paper orb and a lighter, lighting the fuse. Suigetsu thought it was a bomb, and he was partially right. The bomb landed at his feet, the fuse all but gone. It detonated, releasing a sickly-looking gas upwards. It hadn't been an explosive bomb, or even a smoke bomb. It was a stench bomb, and it was all he could smell. It turned his stomach faster than he could control. It didn't take him long to start vomiting.
By the time he was done, he felt a sword's edge at his throat. Sokka held his jian there, breathing shallowly. There was nowhere to run, and he didn't have the strength to fight. The match was over.
Genma, his nose pinched to mitigate the stench, raised his hand. "The winner of the match is Sokka of the Southern Water Tribe."
Suigetsu was carted off so he could be checked on by a medic. Sokka took the polite applause with nods and a smile before leaving. Once he walked into the waiting balcony, Zuko and Akela were there. "How did you even have the time to make smoke bombs during our training?" Zuko asked him as Akela padded over.
Sokka chuckled sheepishly. "My dad explained to me about how he made these tangle mines our Tribesmen had employed on Fire Nation warships. Since I don't have any access to skunk fish, I had to ask Jiraiya to help me find something that stinks. He suggested either the local animal manure or something called a skunk. That, along with Appa's droppings, worked well with the seaweed he got for me."
"Impressive."
"Thanks. I wasn't even sure if it would've worked."
In the VIP stand, Mei noticed the Kubikiribocho was still lying on the ground. A quick look at the Hokage told her all she needed to know. She beckoned for Ao to retrieve the blade, before turning to Chōjūrō and whispered something in his ear. Chōjūrō nodded and joined Ao outside. "So, what do we all think?" she asked once he was gone.
"That Suigetsu kid wasn't bad with the Kubikiribōchō," Ōnoki commented. "And he used the Mizudeppō no Jutsu quite well."
"But that was all he was good with," Gaara objected. "Take away those and he didn't have much to use in a fight."
"His temper also led him into trouble," the Tsuchikage agreed.
"Speaking of which, what do we think of Sokka?" Tsunade asked.
"The kid has been trained by a master, there is no doubt. That's why he commanded the bout," Killer Bee stated.
Mei agreed with the sentiment. "He showed tactical thinking when he first attacked. He was testing how his opponent would defend," she noted. "It's a shame he's not a shinobi, I would've said he earned the right for Chūnin rank."
"Yes, yes, the Hōzuki boy was bad and the foreigner was surprisingly good," A said rudely. "Let's move on."
"Hey brother, what's put you in a foul mood? You're acting really rude," Bee asked him.
"Damnit Bee! Stop it with the rapping! Or do you want the Iron Claw!?" he asked, raising his left hand.
"Alright, the next match will be Zuko vs. Karin," Genma called out. "Will the two candidates come down?"
Karin looked over at Zuko. She had also thought that the matches with the foreigners would be a walk in the park. But after watching Suigetsu's match, she wasn't so sure. The foreigner wasn't even one of those Benders she had been informed about, but her opponent was one.
She turned to look at said opponent. He was flexing his fingers, stretching them to the limits and curling them back. Every time he stretched them a small flame would appear in his hands. Every time he curled them back, the flames would disappear. It was a little unnerving to watch someone be able to use fire so easily without any handseals whatsoever. What also unnerved her was the fact she couldn't sense any chakra from him or his friend.
He turned his gaze on her and she stiffened. His golden eyes seemed to look right through her. They showed nothing, except someone who would not be holding back in anyway. The glare on his face and the scar just helped enforce the point. However, she then saw something that terrified her to the bone. Encircling him protectively was a dragon the color of fire. Its bright blue eyes looked at her and promised something worse than death. As he was about to make his way to the stairs, she turned to the railing.
"Proctor, I forfeit," she declared in a loud voice. "I withdraw from the match."
This got a lot of booing from the audience. Zuko just walked back over to Sokka and Akela. "Told ya she'd quit," Sokka said with a grin.
"Yeah, you were right. I'm glad I didn't bet money on like Naruto and Jiraiya," he replied.
Karin heard them, saw the laugh they shared. "They were betting on whether or not I would forfeit!?" she asked herself in furious silence.
"Due to Karin's forfeit, Zuko wins by default," Genma announced to the arena, getting more boos. "The next match will be between Naruto Uzumaki and Jūgo." That stopped the booing. "Would the two candidates come down?"
Jūgo leapt over the railing and landed on the arena ground. Everyone began to pay closer attention. This was one of the matches they had actually come to see. They wanted to see Naruto in action. However, they still didn't know where he was.
"Well, where is he?" asked A.
"Will he show?" Mei asked Tsunade.
"He will be here," Gaara told her.
"You seem awfully confident about that, Kazekage," Ōnoki said.
"I know him well enough. He will be here."
"You would be right, Gaara," Jiraiya said to him, "except for one thing."
"And what would that be?"
"He's already here." The Toad Sage looked up at the ceiling. "Right, Naruto?"
"Yeah, yeah, I hear ya," Naruto's voice spoke from above. They heard the sound of feet walking on roof tiles. "You know you owe me twenty, right?"
He frowned but in good humor. "I'm well aware of that. Now get your ass down there!" he ordered. All they saw was a blur leaping down from the roof.
"Jiraiya, how long was he there?" Tsunade asked him.
"About two hours before the Exam started."
"Why did no one see him?" Matsuri asked.
"He was counting on the fact that no one really bothers to look up."
Naruto made his way down to the ground in easy jumps. In seconds, he was facing Jugo. "I'm here," he told Genma.
"So you are," he replied, looking the blonde over. The zipper on the jumpsuit was pulled down and stopped when it was at his waist. He wore a black sleeveless shirt underneath the jacket and had bandaged his left arm, on the bicep and on the forearm. His jian was slung across his back in its usual manner. All-in-all, it made him look a little intimidating.
"If the both of you are ready, then let the match begin," Genma declared, stepping back.
The two stared at each other. "Are you going to attack? Or are you just going to stand there?" Naruto asked as he pulled out a cigarette and lit it.
"I do not wish to fight you," Jūgo replied, but his body language said different. It screamed how much it wanted to attack.
"Tough shit, now attack me," the blonde ordered him.
"I will not."
"…You're afraid of me, aren't you?"
"Yes."
"Fine, I'll give you a handicap." He put his hands in his pockets. "I'll just use my feet. That seem fair to you?" he asked his opponent.
"I still won't fight you."
"In that case, just stand still." He charged forward and kicked his face. Jūgo caught it effortlessly but it left him open. Naruto took that chance to kick his midsection.
He grunted in pain and let go of the foot, clutching his midsection. "Please, don't make me do this," he begged.
"Oh, I'm sorry. I wasn't aware you had a choice, slave." He spat out the last word like it disgusted him.
"What?"
"You are a slave. You do not the option of choosing something. A man chooses but a slave obeys."
"Don't call me that," he said.
"Call you what? Don't call you a slave?" Naruto barked a harsh laugh. "You are a slave. You have never chosen. You have only obeyed."
"I am not a slave!" he screamed as he charged forward, his skin turning grey and his right arm turning into larger form of itself.
"What the hell is that baka thinking?" Kiba demanded. "He's gonna get pounded into the ground now!" And here he had thought that Naruto had gotten smarter over the years.
"You doubt my ability to train somebody?" Jiraiya asked in a faux-hurt tone. "He knows what he's doing."
"But Lord Jiraiya, you saw the same thing we did," Hinata said. "What'll happen if Naruto gets hit by that arm?"
"I'll punish him later for getting hit," he replied with a completely straight face.
Jūgo kept swinging his arm, trying hit to Naruto. But all he did in response was either dodge or use a kick to knock his arm aside. "I'm disappointed, Jūgo," he said. "You say you aren't a slave and yet here you are, obeying."
"I don't take orders!" his opponent shouted, more of his skin turning grey.
"Oh really, you are certain of that? He leaned back to avoid a punch that would've knocked his head off. "You're following orders right now."
"No, I'm not!"
"Of course, you are. Your master has ordered you to kill me, and your rage is ordering you to rip me to bloody pieces. Those are orders and you obey them. You are a slave." Jūgo roared in anger and swung another punch at him. He dodged effortlessly. "And you continue to disappoint me."
"I am not a slave! I chose to hide myself from everyone. I chose to lock myself away!"
"No, you obeyed what your fears whispered in your ear. That is why you locked yourself away."
"You're lying!" The grotesque arm shrunk back down to a normal size. It remained grey, but instead, an axe grew out of his forearm. The same thing happened on his other arm as well.
"What do you know? You're not just a slave, you're a monster too," Naruto said, simultaneously making it sound like what he saw was something amazing and disgusting.
"DIE!" he screamed.
"I don't believe what my eyes do see. This is something new for the Killer Bee," Bee stated as he watched what happened on the field.
"I must agree with your brother, Lord Raikage," Mei told him. She had never seen someone like that before.
"What is he?" Gaara wondered aloud.
Everyone was wondering that as well, except for the Tsuchikage. "It's been a while since I've seen a member of that clan," Ōnoki said.
"What are you talking about, old man?" Kurotsuchi asked her grandfather, her tone annoyed but also curious.
"I have fought many people in my life who hail from the same clan as that boy," he told her. "They could all do the same things as he can, but they are also struck with the same infection. They are sometimes struck with bloodlust and go berserk. I had to kill more than I would want to count that had destroyed entire villages and I've always lost men every time it happened."
"So, you've killed every member of this clan?"
He looked at her. "Obviously not, a few must have gone into hiding."
"What's the name of this clan?" asked A.
"I didn't have time to ask. I was always a little busy trying to make sure my shinobi didn't die."
Jūgo kept swinging his axes at his target, but he kept missing. Naruto did not try to attack at all, nor did he remove his hands from his pockets. He would always step back, evaded or use his legs to kick the attacks away.
As he attacked, he got angrier and angrier. More of his skin turned dark and when it finally came to his eyes, they became yellow and black. He kept on attacking, but he didn't get anything out of it. "The longer I look at you, the more I see the slave," Naruto told him coldly. "And the more disgusted I am."
"SHUT UP!" he roared.
"Why should I? Do you hate listening to the truth so much?"
His skin had turned completely dark. The nails on his fingers sharpened themselves. His forehead and the sides of his face had turned into hard bone and a black ran down from his forehead to the end of his nose. Multiple things began to emerge from his back. The cloak he wore hindered it, so he cast it off. The blue shirt he wore was torn to rags as multiple pipes spewed charka from them. "I'm gonna kill ya!" he declared with maniacal laughter.
"Try if you can, slave," Naruto simply replied.
Laughing like a crazed man about to die, he charged forward, faster than before. He shot towards Naruto, axes at the ready. He was faster than before, but Naruto was still able to dodge them. He stopped, immediately turned around and leapt for his back. Naruto swung around, throwing a roundhouse kick at the arms.
Instead, the hands caught the leg and slammed it down, bringing Naruto with it. He pulled his hands out and reached for the ground. Once he had a grip, he yanked his foot free and rolled forward. Jūgo swung his axes down, trying to cleave him in half. He continued rolling to avoid them. He got away from the axes before he was even hurt.
He leapt out of the roll and turned back around to face Jūgo, his hands back in the pockets. "Is that all?" he asked.
"NOT EVEN CLOSE!" Jūgo charged forward again, only to stumble and fall when he felt the same immense killing intent from before coming from the blonde. "Do you think this will stop me? I'm gonna to get back up and then I'm gonna kill ya!" he declared, looking him in the eye.
"That will depend," Naruto replied.
"Depend on what?" He fought to stand up but he wasn't winning.
"Are you going to kill me as a man, or as a slave?"
"What do you mean? Killing is killing!"
"Are you a man or are you a slave, Jūgo?" the blonde asked him, still keeping him pinned with the killing intent.
"I…am not a slave," he answered, his voice switching back and forth between the crazed tone and his normal one.
"But are you a man?"
"No, I'm…a monster."
"Answer the question, Jūgo!" Naruto shouted. "Are you a man or are you a slave?!"
"Neither!" he screamed back.
"Wrong!" the Fire Paragon bellowed. "A man chooses, but a slave obeys! Which one are you?!"
"I don't know!"
"Then decide! Will you submit to your feelings of rage and follow your master's orders? Or will you choose to stop fighting?"
"I didn't want to fight in the first place!"
"But you still would have. You were going to follow your master's orders to kill me. You did not realize that you were a slave." He walked closer to him, still using the killing intent. "A man chooses, but a slave obeys. Will you choose or will you obey?" He grabbed Jūgo by the shirt, lifting him up until they were face-to-face. "ARE YOU A MAN OR A SLAVE?!" he roared right in his face.
"I'M A MAN!" Jūgo roared back in his normal voice.
"Then prove it." Naruto released his grip and stepped back, the killing intent vanishing. "If you are a man, choose to quell your rage."
He stayed there on his knees, concentrating. The pipes and axes slowly began to shrink back into his body. Every couple of seconds, it looked like they were struggling to stay out. Eventually, they disappeared into his body. Then his skin began to change back. The dark skin would sometimes struggle to stay in place, but it would be pushed back. In the end, Jūgo sat on his knees, in a tattered shirt and ragged shorts. There was no dark skin showing, his arms did not hold any axes and he did not wear a crazed grin.
"Well? What are you?" Naruto asked him.
He stood up on shaky legs. "I am a man, not a slave," he answered in a clear voice. "I do not obey, I choose. And I choose to forfeit."
"Oh no, we cannot have that, Jūgo," a voice said as someone landed next to him. It was a man with ash-grey hair and glasses covering onyx eyes. Both his pants and his shirt were purple while his undershirt was white. He wore a white cloth waistband and blue sandals as well as a shuriken holster on his right leg. "You have your orders. Kill Naruto Uzumaki."
He shook his head. "I won't do it, Kabuto. I am not a slave."
"You see, that's where you're wrong. You are a slave. And if you won't obey, then you'll be forced to obey." He quickly pulled out a syringe and aimed it to plunge it into Jugo's neck. It was knocked out of his hand by a shuriken and fell to the ground, the glass shattering on impact. While surprised, he was still aware enough to jump back and avoid a kick. "You've grown up, Naruto."
"You're still the same, Kabuto: a complete smug, insufferable asshole," Naruto replied. He grabbed Jūgo and pushed over to the proctor. "Get him out of here, Genma." Genma nodded and took hold of Jūgo before leaping away. As he leapt away, Zuko, Sokka and Akela leapt into the arena and ran to back Naruto up.
"You brought friends," Kabuto noted.
"And you brought none."
"Who is this man?" Zuko asked Naruto.
"This is Kabuto Yakushi, second-in-command to Orochimaru, the leader of Otogakure and traitor to Konoha," he introduced the man standing before them.
"It's a pleasure to meet you all," Kabuto gave them a mocking half-bow.
"Speaking of the bastard, where is he?"
"I am right here, Naruto," a sinister voice spoke in the air. Then, out of the ground, a man appeared. He slowly rose up until he stood next to Kabuto. Both Sokka and Zuko recoiled slightly when they saw him. His skin was very pale, almost to the point of pasty. His waist-length hair was black. His eyes were amber and had slits in his pupils. Purple markings surrounded his eyes. He wore black pants and a black polo neck with a grey garb over it. Around his waist was a thick, purple rope belt that was tied off in the back. He wore blue tomoe-shaped earrings on his ears with a whimsical, if not a little sinister, smile on his face.
"This guy is giving me the creeps just by looking at him," Sokka thought to himself. He wasn't the only one who thought that.
"Huh, who would've thought he'd show up?" Kisame asked.
"It's his home village and the Kyūbi Jinchūriki is back. I guess he was interested too, hm," Deidara said.
"Whoa, is that really Orochimaru?" Tobi asked, sounding both surprised and amazed.
"Yeah, that's the pasty bastard alright," Hidan answered. "I still want to send him to Lord Jashin. What he tries to do is blasphemy."
"You can't attack him, Hidan," Kakuzu told him.
"You think I don't know that?"
"Stop," Konan ordered them. "We will do nothing. We are simply here to observe, nothing more. Right now, we're under diplomatic immunity. If we lose that, then the Five Kages will have an excuse to attack us. Is that understood?"
"Yes," they all answered.
"What in the hell?" asked A, completely surprised by the fact. "Orochimaru's here?"
"We can see him quite well," Mei remarked with a little sarcasm.
"Lady Tsunade, what are you going to do?" Gaara asked the Hokage.
She simply raised her hand and touched the wireless radio she wore around her neck. "Activate," she ordered.
"So, you've finally shown yourself." Naruto said, his tone even and controlled. He had been waiting three years for a chance like this to show itself. But he had to stay in control to take advantage of it.
"I think I should be the one saying that," Orochimaru replied. "You disappeared for three years and now, all of a sudden you're back. It was an opportunity I couldn't resist."
"To captured and experiment on me to see what I could do and if you could copy my abilities?"
"Precisely, not to mention your new friends as well," he answered with a sadistic grin, making Zuko, Sokka, and even Akela shudder. "I take it you all were brought in kicking and screaming?"
"More like knocked out," the blonde replied. "I was planning on getting us all out, but they offered me a deal sweet enough to make me stay."
"And what was that?"
"The chance to kill you," he answered with a straight face.
A dark chuckle escaped the pale man's lips. "Amusing, Naruto, very amusing," he said, his grin turning amused. "I would offer you the chance to try, but I and my subordinates must leave now."
A smirk appeared on his face at those words. "You haven't noticed yet, have you?"
"Noticed what?"
"Did you really think your former teammates wouldn't know what you were planning? They knew what you were going to do long beforehand and prepared accordingly." He pulled out a shuriken and threw it up into the air. Once it reached a certain point above the arena, it hit a wall of energy. As the energy rippled, revealing the dome over the arena, the shuriken fell back down to the ground. "A simple Cage Seal reinforced five times over," he stated. "There's no way you'll be able to get out easily. Oh, and by the way…" He pointed up to the waiting balcony. "I don't think your subordinates will be joining you."
Orochimaru looked at the balcony, letting nothing show on his face. He knew the Cage Seal enclosed a certain area, both in the air and underground. If you were powerful enough and knew what to do, it was very easy to break the seal. But when the seal was reinforced, its strength and resilience grew. The more reinforced it was, the more it grew and the harder it was to break it. He also knew that if Karin was not in the waiting balcony, then both she and Suigetsu had been taken, along with Jūgo.
But he wasn't annoyed, angry or even embarrassed. If anything, he looked interested. "I guess I really should've known better," he admitted as he turned to look up at the Kage box. "Well played, Tsunade, Jiraiya," he called up to his old teammates with a mocking salute. He turned his attention back down to Naruto. "I guess I can entertain you after all, Naruto. A deal's a deal, right?" He flashed through two handseals. "Sen'eijashu (Hidden Shadow Snake Hands)." He held out his right hand in a punching motion as snakes emerged from the sleeve and flew towards their enemies.
"Back up!" Naruto told the others. They jumped away as the snakes smashed into the ground where they just were. They landed further away from the two. The two groups stood on different sides of the arena, staring each other in the eye.
Orochimaru hadn't lost his grin. "If I am going to fight you, then I might as well make it interesting. I was saving this one for a special occasion, and I guess this would be it." He looked over at Kabuto. "Do it."
"Yes, Lord Orochimaru." He flashed though handseals at an incredible pace and slammed his hands into the ground. "Kuchiyose: Edo Tensei (Summoning: Impure World Reincarnation)!" A coffin rose up out of the ground and stood in front of him. "Are you ready to face your opponent, Naruto?" he asked the blonde. "I can almost guarantee you won't be able to fight this person."
The coffin lid fell down to the ground and the person inside stepped out. While Sokka and Zuko were confused about who it was, Naruto kept a straight face. Inside his mind was a different story. "He didn't," the Kyūbi said in shock. He knew that his Jinchūriki and his teammates had been briefed on the technique. But the person in front of them was not someone the fox was expecting.
"Apparently, he did," Naruto answered, a little surprised.
"…I didn't think he'd be that heartless," Kisame admitted as he looked down at the person standing in front of Orochimaru and Kabuto.
"Huh? Who is that?" Tobi asked curiously.
"That's someone who is well known in this village," Kakuzu answered. "When she was alive, the bounty on her head was fairly impressive."
"That's all you can think about, money," Hidan remarked.
"What do you think about this, Itachi, hm?" Deidara asked him. When he didn't answer, they all looked at him.
He was visibly angry, something they thought he would never show on his face and trembling with fury. "How dare he do that?" he asked with a growl.
"Who is that person?" Mei asked.
"I don't know," Gaara answered.
"Is that who I think it is?" Ōnoki asked Tsunade. She didn't answer, she didn't have to. The fact that both she and Jiraiya looked absolutely dangerous and leaking large amount of killing intent was enough of an answer.
"DAMN YOU, OROCHIMARU!" Jiraiya roared from the railing. "HAVE YOU NO SHAME!?"
Everyone was surprised at his sudden fury. "Lord Jiraiya, why are you so angry?" Hinata asked.
"Yeah, just who is that person?" Aang asked as well.
"Is she someone important?" Suki asked.
His fury was still radiating as he looked at them. "He didn't just summon anyone back from the dead. He summoned Kushina Uzumaki."
"Kushina Uzumaki?" Kiba repeated. "Is she from the same clan as Naruto?"
"She's his mother!"
End
Author's notes: Thank you for all the reviews you have sent me.
Okay, so I dropped a few tidbits about what's really going on. If you're going to complain about how I haven't explained everything already or I'm making things seem complicated and/or confusing, don't worry, the full explanation is in the next chapter.
I'm guessing a few of you will be mad because I didn't write a fight between Zuko and Karin. In my defense, I did look at videos of her in the Naruto fighting games and quite frankly, I was notimpresses. I'm sorry, but bitch-slapping someone with an Explosive Tag does not qualify as a jutsu in my books. Zuko would've creamed her in five seconds, maybe ten if he was slow. That would've been a waste.
Yes, I'm well aware of the fact "A man chooses, a slave obeys," is from Bioshock. I've played the game myself. Let's be honest, that statement described Jūgo perfectly. Think about it, he is a slave to his own rage and bloodlust. He was also a slave to Orochimaru. There were very few things he actually chose. It made perfect sense to me.
If you're wondering why Kabuto summoned Kushina instead of Orochimaru, I want you to read the latest chapters of Naruto. With any luck, you'll understand why.
I'll see you all next chapter!