Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.
"The next pair of combatants is…" he paused. "Mamoru no Sunagakure and Uchiha Itachi no Konohagakure!"
Chapter 11 – Shinobi no Konohagakure
Itachi froze momentarily before glancing over at his opponent. He looked cool and collected, seemingly unconcerned that he was about to fight a member of the prestigious Uchiha Clan. Oh well. It was time to do his family proud. He and the Suna ninja walked down the steps – no point in making a flashy entrance – at a pace they deemed respectable. An Uchiha and the son of the Kazekage. No. No-one would rush them. The crowd were quite restless by the time they finally reached the grassed area, but when they did emerge there was a massive cheer. Itachi blocked the audience out. He didn't need any distractions, not even from his own family.
"So," Mamoru said, or rather, drawled. "I get to fight Uchiha Itachi – the one that no-one wanted to fight because of his rumoured talent. Let's see how true those stories are, shall we?" Itachi didn't rise to the bait. He was an Uchiha. He didn't get wound up by thinly veiled taunts.
"Begin," Shino said, beating a hasty retreat. If the upcoming match was going to be anything like Sasuke and Gaara's all those years ago then he wanted to be a safe distance away, like, the other side of the arena. Sasuke's son made the first move. Throwing a handful of kunai, he noticed how the sand seemingly of its own accord moved to block the attack. That sand's fast – but I can outpace it, I'm sure… but it's going to eat up a hell of a lot of Chakra. I could try Chidori – he dodged as a stream of sand darted towards him. OK. I have to outpace it or I'm dead. This guy doesn't seem to take prisoners. He activated his Sharingan and ran around in circles, trying to outpace the sand. It followed him, but he was pleased to see that it couldn't keep up with his Chakra-enhanced speed. He darted in and delivered a kick to the boy's chest, sending him flying backwards. OK. You can do this, Itachi, he encouraged himself. Just use Chidori and get it over with quickly. His hands automatically formed the familiar Seals. A bright ball of Chakra appeared in his hand, making the trademark chirping noise. Charging at the son of the Kazekage, he evaded the moving sand and struck the younger Chuunin. The powerful attack cut straight through the Suna no Yoroi that covered Mamoru's body and punctured his shoulder. Itachi wanted to avoid a fatal injury if possible. Knocking out his opponent was a good enough victory for him. The red haired boy screamed before laughing.
"I'm not that easy to defeat," he laughed. "You'll have to do better than that – Itachi of the Uchiha Clan." Again, Itachi ignored the taunts. Rising to them would just give his opponent the advantage. OK. Taijutsu didn't work. Ninjutsu didn't work. Your only option is genjutsu, Itachi told himself. He weaved the necessary handsigns and listened in satisfaction as Mamoru screamed, the genjutsu taking affect. Before the boy had a chance to recover, Itachi used his Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu! Rather basic, but he didn't want to waste his Chidori. It appeared to work – the boy burst into flames – wait? He caught fire? That isn't right. Humans aren't flammable. Itachi looked around for him, realising that he'd somehow escaped the genjutsu. Damn. I can't get to him with any of the three battle types. Kirin? No. That won't work, and anyway, that's for when I'm low on Chakra. Chidori Nagashi? I think I'll need to use that… He scowled, but it wasn't as if he had a choice. Because he had yet to locate that pesky ninja, he sent it in all directions. There was a scream and Itachi saw the Suna shinobi being coated in the Chidori Nagashi. Aware that it might be a trap, Itachi scoured the arena with his Sharingan. There! He was right – it was a diversion. Clever, I guess. But you've got to be cleverer than that to fool me, Itachi thought, realising that that Mamoru too was a fake. Come on. Where are you hiding? Itachi thought. He was getting annoyed. Aha! He sent a second wave of Chidori Nagashi into the ground and a third up the walls. Of course, he couldn't kill innocent civilians purely because Mamoru was using them for cover. He'd have to lure him out by pretending to have dropped his guard.
Mamoru watched from just behind Mikoto. That idiot, he thought scornfully. He has no idea where I am. He thinks that I've stayed in the arena. There are no rules that I have to stay in there – so I'm using his sister for cover. He will expect me to attack once he's wasted a lot of Chakra, because that's what logical – but who said I was logical? I'll attack now, while he least expects it. See – he's dropped his guard somewhat. I've never seen him so open to attack. I've just got to be careful of that damn Kekkei Genkai of his. Then again… a few grains of sand should deal with that…
Itachi let his Chidori Nagashi continue going, despite the fact it was using a lot of Chakra. Suddenly, he got something in his eye. Sand! He's making his move. Itachi was fully aware of the kunai slicing through the air behind him, but he ignored it.
Mamoru grinned as the Uchiha tried to get the sand out of his eyes, unaware of the kunai hurtling towards him. The blades hit him squarely in the back. Got you! he thought, then gasped as a log appeared in the place of the Uchiha. What the..? A substitution? Dammit! He didn't let down his guard for a second! It was a trap and I fell right into it! There was the telltale sound of birds chirping. Is that all you can do? he thought scornfully. He turned to see Itachi standing behind him, holding his katana, which was surrounded by Raiton Chakra. What the hell is that? Mamoru thought.
"It's over," Itachi said. Kusanagi no Tsurugi: Chidorigatana! He lunged with the unstoppable weapon, slicing through all the sand shields as though they were butter.
Mamoru coughed up blood as everything went black. I… lost...?
"The winner is… Uchiha Itachi no Konohagakure," Shino proclaimed. That was an interesting match. Itachi made his way back up to the viewing gallery where Hiroshi patted him on the back. Paramedics entered and carried Mamoru off on a stretcher.
"The next competetors are…" Shino paused. There were only four left, all from Konohagakure. "Kai Jun no Konohagakure and Shirasei Genzō no Konohagakure." The two Shinobi faced each other – white eyes met black. They both used a transportation jutsu to get down to the arena where Shino was waiting for them.
"Begin." He was back to hating that word. Immediately, both began to weave handsigns, playing on their strengths. Jun completed his first. Kuchiyose: San tō juu! The dark boy slammed his hand down on the earth and a giant, three headed dog appeared. Cerberus! The beast of legend snarled and lunged at the green haired boy. He jumped up into the air, dodging the beast's attack. His hands continued to flow into Seals, uninterrupted. At the appearance of Cerberus, he had altered his pattern slightly. Genjutsu: Ki! The beast howled and stood still. Jun glared at his fellow Konoha shinobi. No, he used genjutsu! The beast howled again, feeling thousands of augers drilling into him. Dispel! The dark haired boy sent Cerberus out of range, back to wherever he came from. A genjutsu resistant one, I think. Kuchiyose: Ishi Bashirisuku! A giant snake-like creature with rocky skin appeared.
Dammit! Genzō thought. Basilisks resist genjutsu. This time I'll have to attack Jun directly. His hands blurred again, forming Seals for a genjutsu which would immobilise his opponent. Genjutsu: Doen! The basilisk saw the attack and stood in the genjutsu's path.
Magen: Kyō Tenchi-ten! The Doen genjutsu rebounded off the basilisk's hard scales and struck its castor.
Dammit! Genzō thought just as it hit him.
The basilisk looked at Jun, its summoner, who nodded. Dispel. It disappeared and Jun walked over to where his opponent lay, blind eyes staring past him.
"The winner is… Kai Jun no Konohagakure." Shino was getting bored of repeating himself, but it was protocol. He couldn't change it. The dark boy shrugged and walked back up to the viewing gallery. A genjutsu expert appeared and released the genjutsu on Genzō, before medics led him away.
"The last two competitors are Uzumaki Aiko no Konohagakure and Uzumaki Kaname no Konohagakure," Shino announced. The sisters looked at each other before racing down to the stadium.
"They're sisters?" someone in the crowd asked. "They look nothing alike!"
"Shh!" his companion told him. "They're the daughters of the Hokage!"
"This is going to be fun," Kaname commented to her sister. "We get to fight each other." Her little sister nodded and looked up at their father.
"Begin," Shino said. Was it humanely possible to hate that word anymore? The sisters both performed Seals, unconcerned that the other was doing the same thing.
"Byakugan!" Their Kekkei Genkai activated, their usually unmarked eyes gained defining lines. They both adopted the classic Hyuuga fighting stance, learnt from their mother. They leaped at each other, their inherited style of taijutsu clashing with each other, neither able to score even a glancing blow. Slowly, Kaname began to gain the advantage. Aiko realised that and disengaged, getting out of range of her sister's Hakke whatever-it-would-be Shō. Tajū Kage Bunshin no Jutsu! Her fingers formed the well known cross shape as she performed a jutsu passed down from her father. Kaname glared.
That's how you're going to play it, little sister? Hakke Rokujūyon Shō! Her stance shifted slightly as she attacked the clones of her sister. Aiko and her clones dodged as many of the blows as they could, but Kaname was too skilled so, gradually, the number of clones dwindled until only Aiko was left. She cursed and more doppelgangers appeared. Instead of rushing at her sister, they surrounded Aiko and a glowing ball of Chakra was created in her palm. She charged at her sister, careful to not get her Chakra points struck, Rasengan! Kaname dodged to the side as her sister thrust the sphere at her. Before Aiko could recover, she struck her Chakra points, halting the flow. Despite her enormous reserves of Chakra, Aiko was unable to perform any jutsus. In fact, the jutsu her sister used was enough to make her black out, therefore losing the fight. Itachi wasn't surprised. Kaname had the advantage of age and experience. He glanced up at where the Kages were sat. Naruto's face was expressionless, but Itachi could tell that he was pleased with both his daughters' performances.
Thanks for reading!
Tsari